The Adventures of Hunter
by Shining4Charizard
Summary: Join Hunter, a brave Treecko, and his friends on their adventure to uncover the mystery behind the Gale of Darkness. Full summary inside. OCs no longer needed. DISCONTINUED!
1. Introduction

**Author's notes: So here we are... face to face... face our sins... wait, what? Oh, sorry, I was just singing a really cool song by one of my favourite bands Saga. I think it was called Walking On Thin Ice, or something along those lines. Well anyway... since my other stories failed big time, I'm trying to deliver something better to you guys. Something that is worth to be read. At least I hope, this is worth it. I got the idea while playing Pokémon XD again. So... this is kind of like a mix of Pokémon XD and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Here's a summary:**

_**The war between Pokémon and humanity is long since over, but the hatred still remains unchanged in the world, hovering over it like a cloud of darkness. And when this hatred escalates, it creates a storm of dark emotions, which will befall the Pokémon and turn them into the nasty Shadow Pokémon. But where is this Gale of Darkness coming from? Join Hunter, a brave Treecko, and his friends on their adventure to uncover the mystery behind the Gale of Darkness. **_

**The story takes place 300 years after a war between Pokémon and humanity, in which the Pokémon eliminated humans from their planet after they corrupted it too much. It takes place in the kingdom of Orre (those who played Colosseum and XD will know)**

**Oh, and another thing! I accept OC-Pokémon from you guys which will later make up Hunter's team or enemies. That one is up to you. The Pokémon has to be in its first evolution stage (except for Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Clefairy, who can be in their second stages (after their baby form) as well. It can be a legendary Pokémon, but those will mostly be used as enemies. I have the OC character formula here:**

**Name: (the nickname of the Pokémon)**

**Species: (what kind of Pokémon is it?)**

**Gender: (male/female)**

**Character: (a short description of its behaviour (and optionally: what led to this behaviour))**

**Special traits: (can be special powers or some design differences from original design (optional))**

**Occupation: (which side is the character on?)**

**Hometown: (any town in Orre (optional)**

**Moves: (some of the moves the character knows)**

**Thoughts on Hunter: (Title says it all)**

**I planned on 7 team members for Hunter (aside of himself and a character I will introduce soon). There can be as many enemies, as you like to submit. **

**Here's an example:**

**Name: Hunter**

**Species: Treecko**

**Gender: Male**

**Character: Calm and collected, but gets very angry if his friends are threatened**

**Special traits: Can use moves a Treecko normally can't use**

**Occupation: Team leader of his team**

**Hometown: Pyrite Town**

**Moves: Iron Tail, Bullet Seed, Energy Ball, Pound, Quick Attack, Brick Break**

**Thoughts on Hunter: Not needed, since it's him**

**This is Hunter's profile, so you know how it is done (heck, like you guys don't know that already. But this is for safety reasons). **

**Just so you are informed, I will post another profile of a character that will appear in the story**

**Name: Luna**

**Species: Ralts**

**Gender: Female**

**Character: Shy and very kind and is always concerned about her friends wellbeing, extremely emphatic**

**Special traits: Can feel the enemy's strength level and emotions of those around her, has healing abilities**

**Occupation: Team member of Hunter's team, princess of Orre**

**Hometown: Phenac City**

**Moves: Psychic, Recover, Shock Wave, Sing, Calm Mind, Energy Ball (taught to her by Hunter)**

**Thoughts on Hunter: She doesn't like him at first, thinking of him as nothing but a lowlife thief, but grows to trust him after getting to know him better. **

**I will submit the first chapter once you guys have submitted the first characters. I want this to be a very good story, but right now, I'm kind of out of ideas. That's why there will be only this introductory chapter for now, but once there are some OCs here, it will be going on. I promise, that I will not let you down on this one, my friends!**


	2. A happening in the desert

**Author's notes: At this point I want to thank Demolition Panda, Twilight's Shad0w, Illusion fox, ShadowDragon654, Zander and Vipergirl02 for submitting OCs. As of now, I have 5 good guys and 3 baddies (Have to do an update here: Baddies can be in one of their evolved forms, e.g. Dusknoir, Tyranitar etc.). So... thanks to you guys, I was able to write the first chapter early on (because now I got THE idea XD). Let's see, how this is going!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 1: A happening in the desert**

300 Years after the war between Pokémon and humanity was over, Orre and all the other regions were left deserted and destroyed. The Pokémon did their best to rebuild their homes and used the houses and cities to found a civilisation themselves.

The desert region of Orre was turned into a kingdom overseen by a powerful Psychic-type.

And although everything looked nice at first, on second looks it really was not all peaceful. Some of the hatred from the war remained and corrupted the souls of some Pokémon. Now, they were trying to spread this hatred through a storm of darkness, plunging the world into chaos.

A young Ralts and an Absol, both females, were wandering through the desert of Orre, looking for a place to hide.

"Is everything okay, princess?" the Absol asked. "Yes, I'm okay, Riv", the Ralts replied. "That's good", Riv, the Absol, smiled. "Thank you for picking me up in Phenac City", the Ralts said. "I do not know where I would be without you".

"It was my honour, princess Luna", Riv said and bowed her head. "If I wasn't there, they would have taken you away during the attack".

"I wonder…".

"About what?"

"Is this desert ever going to end?"

"That is an excellent question, but I think I remember seeing a town around here somewhere during my travels". Riv raised her head up and looked around. "I think it was somewhere in that direction…", she said. Luna looked in the same direction. "I think, I see someone coming from there…", she said.

"Eh?"

"Look who's there", a black Riolu said. "Let's beat them up, folks". "Folk, there is only one", a Shinx said. "And that one folk is me, Tysion. Get that in your head!"

"Shut up!" the Riolu named Tysion rushed forward. "No time for talking, let our deeds talk". "Hey, how did you get that idea, just attacking us like that?" Riv shouted and got herself ready. "Hide behind me, princess".

"Hah!" the Shinx laughed. "This battle is as good as won! With my amount of strength, this little Absol is nothing!"

Tysion was fighting Riv in a fierce battle. "He's too strong to be a normal Riolu", she thought while she defended herself from Tysions Close Combat attacks. While doing that, she couldn't see what was going on behind her and so she was hit by the Shinx' Discharge attack.

Her entire body suddenly went numb.

"Good work, Gabriel", the Riolu congratulated. "Of course", the Shinx puffed up his chest. "Riv, are you okay?" Luna shouted from the sidelines. "Not… really", the Absol was lying on the ground, unable to move, because of the Paralysis from the Discharge attack earlier.

"Now, let's finish this little Ralts off…" Tysion turned towards Luna and looked at her with rage in his eyes. "Heh, this'll be easy" Gabriel said.

"Oh no" Luna thought. "I can't battle. I'm way too weak to fight. What will I do?"

"Don't think of yourself like that, you brat", Riv shouted towards her. "Sorry for being mean, but it had to be said by someone! If you don't beat these jerks up, then only Arceus may know what happens".

"Heh, the chief will give us a nice reward if we catch a real princess" Gabriel smiled while thinking of a money rain.

"I don't care!" Tysion shouted. "Let's do this!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down, man! Don't get so angry with me, freak".

"But I'm really angry right now!" a voice shouted and Gabriel was hit by a strong Iron Tail. "Ouch, what the hell?" he asked while landing on all fours. "You Arceus-damned *BEEP*"

A Treecko was standing in front of Luna. "You are Hunter, right?" the Riolu asked. "Hmph, yes" the Treecko replied. "And I'm here, because my friend here will kick your sorry ass". "What?" Tysion asked in shock, while another Riolu with blood red eyes appeared next to Hunter. "You, Cloud?". "Long time no see, brother", the Riolu named Cloud greeted.

Tysion growled in anger and rushed into the fight. Cloud rushed to fight his brother as well. Tysion started it out with a Close Combat attack which Cloud dodged and followed up with a Dynamic Punch attack. Tysion ducked away and let his hand glow dark and claws extended from his paws. He used the Shadow Claw to scrape the sand before him and disguise himself. Cloud concentrated himself and closed his eyes. "Feel him" he thought. "You have to feel, where he is coming from". He suddenly opened his eyes and used a Dynamic Punch to hit somebody, who was attacking from behind.

"Argh!" Gabriel coughed. "What the hell, you freak? That hurts!" He was hurled through the air and landed on the ground.

"Coward" Hunter said.

"I can handle this, Hunter", Cloud told him. "You can take care of the Absol and Ralts". Hunter nodded and pulled out a Cheri Berry.

"Here", he said to Riv. "This will heal you from the Paralysis". He laid it down in front of her. "Thank you" Riv said and munched down the Berry, which immediately healed her from her Paralysis. She got up on her feet. "You okay?" Luna asked her. Riv nodded and pointed towards Hunter, who folded his arms behind his head and looked for Cloud, who was still standing there and had his eyes closed.

After a while, he opened his eyes again. "He's gone" Cloud said. "The battle is over". "Phew", Hunter breathed. "This is annoying. Those guys have bugging this area for a while now". He looked around to see if there was still someone present, but there was not.

"Is everything okay with you guys?" Hunter asked Riv and Luna. "Yeah, kind of", Riv shook herself. "Stupid sand" "Why are you in the desert?" Cloud asked. "We came here from Phenac City that was attacked a few days ago" Riv told them. "We have been searching for a place to stay for a while now".

"That's just your luck that we found you", Cloud announced proudly. "We live in Pyrite Town right now. If you want, we can lead you there". "Isn't Pyrite Town this stinking thief hole?" Luna asked. "It's true that there are a lot of thugs there, but not everyone is evil, you know" Hunter said calmly. "Besides, the desert is filled with bandits, so it will be much safer for you to come with us".

"Let's go with them" Riv suggested. "Why? They live in Pyrite Town" Luna said. "And that is a problem for you?" Riv looked at Luna with a confused expression. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm Orre's princess" Luna whispered back. "I can't go with some lowlife thieves. Especially not that Treecko guy. He seems to be a very cruel one". "I think, we can trust him", Riv said and smiled at Hunter, who looked back at her, but did nothing. "Do you come with us, now?" Cloud asked. "Yeah, we're coming", Riv exclaimed and followed the two boys. Luna followed too, because she did not want to be alone in the desert.

"This ship trip is awesome!" a female Vulpix exclaimed. "Exactly the thing, I, the awesome, amazing Blaze, need!" "You and your big mouth", a chocolate brown Eevee giggled. "You be quiet, sidekick!" Blaze, the Vulpix shouted. "Hey, I'm your friend, not your sidekick", the Eevee said with a somewhat sad tone in her voice. "Yeah, I know, Missy", Blaze said and turned to look at the sea. "It's almost as beautiful as me…" she said and Missy, the Eevee, giggled again.

**Author's notes: Yeah, that was the first chapter. I'm not that good with introductory chapters, so I think, I'll get the story rolling soon.**

**Peace out!**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	3. Hunters dilemma

**Author's notes: Hello! It's me with the second chapter of my new story. At first, I want to thank everybody, who send in an OC for sending in an OC. ... That sounded stupid, right? But you know what I mean. It comes from the bottom of my heart. Keep sending in OCs, I'm still accepting some baddies. As for the good guys, I am yet undecided on whether I have 6 or 7 and maybe, I could include an 8th one, but as I said, I am yet unsure of this. Okay, without further ado, let's get this show on the road!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 2: Hunter's dilemma**

„We have finally arrived", Missy squealed happily, when she and Blaze set their feet on the ground of the only port in Orre, Gateon Port. „So this is Orre?" Blaze said with a disappointed expression on her face. „This is a dump compared to my old home". „We went here on vacation remember?" Missy asked. „Yeah, yeah, I know", Blaze shrugged it off and looked around. She had to admit that this town was not quite as „dumpy" as she first said it was. But it really was not to her liking.

„This is embarrassing for me, the amazing awesome Blaze" she cried out in frustration. Missy was the complete opposite. She was happily watching her surroundings and taking all the new things she had not seen before in like a sponge. „Apparently, this city is called Gateon Port", Missy said but was ignored by Blaze.

„So here we are", Hunter said, when the little group arrived in Pyrite Town. „Ugh, it's dirty here", Luna said with a disgusted look on her face. „Dirty, but still my hometown", Hunter growled slightly at Luna's comment.

„We are grateful that you brought us here", Riv said politely to lighten the mood a little. „Heh, you'd better be", Cloud smiled, „without us, you'd be screwed by some nasty-ass sandstorm out there". „Or Tysion and his pal", Hunter added. „Are your wounds serious?" This question was directed to Riv. „No, I think it's okay", she answered with a bright smile on her face. „Thanks for asking, though". „No problem", Hunter closed his eyes and smiled.

„And what do you plan to do with us next?" Luna asked curiously. „Well, next we are going to find a place for you to stay", Cloud said, still smiling. „Come with me". He led the two girls through the town.

„Is this town really dangerous as the rumours say it would be?" Riv asked with a worried expression on her face. „It is, but as long as you are here with me or Hunter, you're safe", Cloud assured her. „I understand", Riv said. „But I don't!" Luna shouted, „why do I, the princess of Orre, have to cooperate with some low-life thieves?" Instead of replying to her question, Cloud shot her a quick glare and said: „Well, these „low-life thieves" are your only hope of surviving in this town. And if you are eager to make your position known to the entire town and get us all into trouble, go ahead. I promise you, getting your head chopped off doesn't hurt as much as people say it would". Luna was silenced immediately. A huge lump formed in her throat and she swallowed it.

„Whee, swimming", a squealing voice shouted.

„Who is disturbing me, the awesome, amazing Blaze?" the Vulpix said sternly and stared down into the water. Something small and swift swam by and jumped out of the water. „Oh, a Vulpix and a strangely coloured Eevee that looks like it fell into a pot of black and white chocolate! They'll eat me for sure! Damnit, must flee", the little creature, outing itself as a female Finneon, cried out. „Epic Evolution! Doot! Doot! Dooooot! Felicia Mode Change to... Felicia Runaway Mode!". And with that, she swam away as fast as she could. „Hey! Wait!" Blaze shouted after the female Finneon, but she was already gone.

„Who was that?" Missy asked with a curious look on her face. „I don't know" Blaze replied. „Well, who cares? She was probably weaker than me anyhow". She rose her nose up in the sky and walked away from the shore. „I don't like it here", she said. „Come on, sidekick. Let's leave this place". „Okay", Missy said and followed her friend. „Sometimes, she can be such a diva...", Missy smiled. „But it's fun being around her. It draws me away from...". Her smile suddenly turned upside down and she looked back at the sea. Her electric blue eyes went wet for a while, but she shook it off and ran after Blaze, who was ways ahead by now. The two left Gateon Port and went in south-eastern direction.

„Hey, Hunter" a voice called. „What is it?" Hunter turned to look at a Bagon, who walked towards him. „Oh, it's you, Lance", Hunter said neutrally. „I heard you brought somebody from the desert with you?" Lance, the Bagon asked. „Information sure spreads fast here" Hunter smiled. „It is a very talkative town".

„You're right" Lance agreed. „But I came for a different reason. The Chief of this city wants to talk with you". „It's that time again?" Hunter asked with an annoyed expression in his face. „What does he want this time?". „You know him much better than I do" Lance said. „I really don't know what someone like HIM could want from you. Anyway, be careful. You don't know what they could have planned".

„You mean it's a trap?"

„Probably".

„Alright, I'll watch out for the odds. Oh, and one thing!"

„What is it?" Lance asked curiously. „Go and see Cloud. He should be with an Absol and a Ralts. Tell them that I have gone to see the chief of this town and that I want them to be safe. After that, you take them to a safe place, preferably Agate Village. I will come there as fast as I can, alright?"

Lance nodded and went away.

„Thanks, buddy"

With that, he went to a high building to the north of the town. A Mightyena was standing in front of the building. „Come on", he said and opened the door. „The chief is waiting for you. Go upstairs"

„Thanks" Hunter said bluntly and went inside.

It was very dark and thus hard to see the surroundings. Hunter could, however, clearly see the rubble that was spilled all over the place.

„Tsk, they really should clean this dump up" he thought as he made his way upstairs and arrived on the roof. There was another smaller building, only one storage high. He entered the smaller building and was greeted by a well cleaned room. Although the light was not turned on and it was dark here, it was a big difference from before when there was only rubble around.

„I have waited for you... Hunter" a black dragon-like figure with big wings, which had red undersides, greeted. It was a shiny Charizard. „You sure took long to get up here"

„What do you want from me?" Hunter was not the type to waste his time with formalities, especially not towards this black dragon before him.

„Have a seat" he said and offered Hunter a chair. Carefully, the Treecko stepped towards it and sat on it. „No traps until now" he thought.

„I heard you brought the princess of Orre here" the Charizard started the conversation.

„You know about her?"

„Of course. Do you really think I am this dumb, Hunter? As one of the four former Dragon Commanders of Orre, I know the royal family. Or have you forgotten this little fact about me?" The Charizard stood up and walked around the room in a threatening manner. Hunter tried his best not to seem impressed by this, but he also knew that he had to be careful with his words, because a fight would only lead him to his death.

„What do you have in mind about doing with her?" he asked carefully.

„I don't know yet" the Charizard said. „I only know that His Majesty the Emperor won't stand for it if she survives".

„The dragon emperor?" Hunter's mouth gaped open in shock.

„Why so shocked, Hunter?" the Charizard asked. „You already should know whom I am working for. But apparently, you don't. This is quite disappointing for Pyrite's number one spy".

„Don't stick to the past, Commander"

„But your past is part of you. And if you and your friends want to survive, you are dependant on me. You do know that... right, Hunter?"

„Tsk... of course"

„Then you also should know that I didn't tell the Emperor yet. And I won't tell him about her being here... under one condition"

„What condition?"

„You become a Shadow Pokémon and serve the Emperor"

„You want what?"

„You heard me..." the Charizard said calmly and opened a window. „If you refuse, I'll reveal to everyone of my subordinates here that the princess of Orre is here... and I'll give the order to kill her... and all your friends. It's your choice, Hunter..."

„Never" Hunter hissed. „I'll never become one of those terrible creatures with sealed hearts".

„I see..." the Charizard said. „I should have expected such reaction. After all... you hate Shadow Pokémon, right?"

„They murdered my family..." Hunter said angrily. „I don't want to become a murderer"

„Not even for your friends?" the Charizard asked. „They will die, if you don't take the offer"

„I will protect them no matter what!" Hunter shouted and jumped from his chair. „Someone like you will never harm them. Not you, not the other Commanders, not even the Emperor will lay a finger on them!"

„You... are a prime example for a warrior" the Charizard said. „Well then... I'm letting you go... this time. But never come here again"

„I won't" Hunter hissed and got out of the room.

„Blaze, look!" Missy shouted and pointed towards a town which could be seen in the distance. „There is a town. Let's rest there"

„If you say so, sidekick. Offer accepted" Blaze said and the two headed towards the town.

**Author's notes: Well, this is the second chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and until next time!**

**-Shining4Charizard**


	4. Pyrite Crisis

**Author's notes: Summer break is finally here! I would be happy about it if I was not lying around in bed feeling sick to the core... I hate you, pollen! Well, anyway, I don't really know if I am out of ideas or if I just have too many ideas for too many different stories. My brain feels like molten chocolate…**

**Okay, enough of the lamenting. Let's get the show on the road! **

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 3: Pyrite Crisis**

Missy and Blaze were still wandering through the desert, the town in the distance still set as their goal. "Are we there yet?" Missy asked. "No" Blaze replied, then there was silence between them.

After a few moments, Missy asked again: "Are we there yet?" Becoming increasingly annoyed, Blaze sighed. "No", she said.

A few moments later, Missy asked again: "Are we there yet?" Blaze turned around to look at the chocolate brown Eevee. "This is not funny! It has never been!" she snapped at her. "Stop annoying me, the awesome, amazing Blaze!"

"I found that very funny" a voice said and the two girls looked around to see a Sneasel walking towards them. "Who are you?" Missy asked with a curious look. "I am Cold" the Sneasel said. Blaze suddenly laughed. "We're in the desert, dumbass!" she laughed. "How can you be cold?" Missy and the Sneasel sweat-dropped. "I meant my name is Cold" the Sneasel corrected himself. "How can a name be cold?" Blaze shook her head. "Man, you're stupid"

Cold decided to change the topic of their conversation. "So, where are you girls headed?" he asked. "We are on our way to that town over there" Missy explained pointing toward the town they were headed to. "Do you know that town?" "I was there for a while, but I didn't quite like it" Cold explained. "There's a lot of thieves and bandits over there, so it's dangerous". "Wow, that sounds exciting" Missy squealed happily. "Hmph, no thief or bandit can mess with me, the awesome, amazing Blaze!" the Vulpix exclaimed and stuck her nose up in the air. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you" Cold said and looked at the little fox with a skeptical expression. "Hah, how are they supposed to beat ME?" Blaze asked and laughed. "Come on, you thieves, I'll kick your collective butts!"

"She's just too full of herself…" Cold stated. Missy agreed silently.

"Well, I'm leaving" the Sneasel said and walked away. "Don't get your heads chopped off". He chuckled.

"What a weirdo" Blaze stated. "I thought he was nice" Missy smiled.

"Hey, who's there?" a voice suddenly called out to them. The two girls turned around again to see a group of Pokémon led by a Bagon coming towards them. It was Lance, Riv, Luna and Cloud.

"Where are you guys going?" the Riolu asked the two. "We are on our way to that town over there" Blaze answered. "Don't get in the way, puppy!" "Who're you calling a puppy, vixen?" Cloud suddenly snapped and the two stared at each other in rage.

"There he goes again…" Lance sighed. "Cloud, stop it". "Blaze, you too" Missy said. "You shut up, sidekick" Blaze growled. "Nobody messes with me, the awesome, amazing Blaze!" "Cut it out now!" Riv suddenly stood between the two. "Tch, fine", Cloud agreed and calmed down.

"Where are you headed anyway?" Missy asked the Pokémon group. "The town is in the opposite direction". "We know, but we are escaping from there" Lance said. "Escaping? Why is that?" Blaze was curious. "Because it's dangerous there" Luna replied. "There are just some lowlife thieves there, who want to take our heads" "Hunter is not a lowlife thief!" Riv defended the Treecko who wasn't with them at the moment. "He may have saved our lives. Don't forget that, Luna". "I still don't trust him" Luna crossed her arms over her chest.

"Who is Hunter?" Missy asked. "And why isn't he with you?" "He's a friend" Cloud replied. "A friend, who put his own life on the line to save us. He has a good heart". "Really now?" Blaze asked. "What kinda Pokémon is he?" "He's a Treecko" Riv replied. Blaze was deep in thought.

"Alright, it's decided!" she suddenly exclaimed. "What is decided?" Missy asked. "Missy, the both of us are going to join up with Hunter and his pals! He's a Grass-type and needs protection! I'll protect him, for I am the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!" "You want to help us?" Lance asked. "Yes, that's what I want" Blaze confirmed. "So… where's Hunter?" "He's still over there" Riv replied and pointed towards the town. "He told us to meet him at Agathe Village". "Alright, sidekick Missy!" Blaze exclaimed towards the Eevee. "You'll go to the town and fetch the poor Treecko while I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze, will protect these Pokémon here!" "Umm… okay" Missy looked bewildered.

"Be careful out there" Cloud suddenly spoke up. "Pyrite Town can be very dangerous. When you found Hunter, bring him to Agathe Village. We'll be waiting for you over there" "Got it" Missy nodded and felt suddenly excited. She thought about this as an amazing adventure.

Meanwhile…

Hunter got out of the building he was in and sneaked away. "I hope the others are safe now" he thought. "But what do I worry about? Lance and Cloud will take good care of them. I'm sure of it" He smiled to himself, wishing that his friends might make it to Agathe Village. He himself had to get out of there as well, but he was sure that the Dragon Commander instructed his troops to kill him.

"There he is!" a voice exclaimed. Hunter saw three Houndoom rushing towards him. "That was faster than expected" he thought and ran away. The three hell hounds shot flames at him, which he dodged.

"They sure are persistent" he thought while reaching the outskirts of the town. "I made it!" he thought, but the Houndoom leader had other plans in store for him. Suddenly, a group of ten Mightyena jumped in front of him.

"Oh crap" he swore. "That's it…" he added in his thoughts. "We got you now, Hunter" the Houndoom leader grinned. "Any last words?"

"Yes, there are!" a female voice suddenly shouted and the Houndoom was struck with a powerful Double-Edge attack. A chocolate brown Eevee landed in front of Hunter. "That you will neeeever catch him!"

"Who in the world are…?" Hunter asked. "I'm Missy" the Eevee winked at him. "You must be Hunter?" "How did you know?"

"Your friends sent me to find you and bring you to them. Shall we?"

"There are still these guys to worry about".

Right at this moment, the Houndoom got to his senses. "Catch them!" he ordered and the ten Mightyena in addition to the two other Houndoom leapt at the duo. "Run!" Hunter shouted and he and Missy made a run for it. Unfortunately for them, they had to run in the opposite direction.

They suddenly came to a stop when they suddenly noticed a deep rift in the ground. "Damn it" Hunter said. "I totally forgot about this one" "What do we do now?" Missy asked and looked behind her, seeing the twelve Pokémon at their heels. "You have nowhere to run now" the Houndoom leader grinned again. "ATTACK!" All the Pokémon suddenly shot Shadow Balls at them.

"Only one way left to go!" Hunter yelled, grabbing Missy and jumping down the rift in the ground.

"Fools…" Houndoom shook his head. "Well, they are dead now. I'll go report this now".

….

"That's how it is, eh?" the black Charizard asked. "Yes" the Houndoom bowed down before him. "Hunter… why did it have to end like this?"

...

Missy didn't really pay attention to how deep they exactly fell as Hunter suddenly grabbed hold of something that seemed to be a cliff made of metal. "That was close" he said. "Hold on, Missy. We are safe soon" "Why did you even jump?" the Eevee asked, panicking. "I know this area. We should be safe here" he pulled himself and Missy up, who looked around. It was all dark. Just a few lights from several shops and buildings managed to light the place they were in.

"What is this place?" Missy asked. "It's the underground city named The Under" Hunter answered. "We should be safe from those guys up there". "I see" Missy said in thought. "Thank you, by the way" Hunter said with a smile. "Eh? For what?" the Eevee asked. "You really saved me up there" the Treecko replied while scratching the back of his head. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead right about now".

"I have a question. How are we supposed to get back up there?" Missy asked, her voice suddenly sounding shaky. Her entire body started to tremble as tears welled up in her eyes. "Is everything alright?" Hunter asked, worried. "Yes, of course" Missy suddenly smiled. "I'm okay! See?" She did a little dance in a futile attempt to make him believe her.

Hunter suddenly grabbed her by her shoulders and looked deep in her electric blue eyes, startling her greatly. "I can tell you are lying to me" he said, voice serious. "But you are also lying to yourself. Why?" "I… I…" Missy stammered, not being able to do anything as she felt like Hunter's look at her just pierced her soul. "I don't want to talk about it" she suddenly cried and broke free of his grasp. "I see" Hunter said. "Sorry for overreacting there. I just don't like it, when Pokémon clearly lie to themselves" "No, it's okay" Missy smiled weakly. "Shall we think about a way to get back up there?" "Of course" Hunter agreed with her.

She stared at him for a few moments longer. "Wow… he's incredibly kind…" she thought.

**Author's notes: Well, folks. That's it. I hope you liked reading it! Until next time.**

**-Shining4Charizard**


	5. Living Hell

**Author's notes: Thank you for your support and so many reviews after just 3 chapters! And I wish to thank all of you who submitted OCs. I really am thankful for each of them. So, without further ado, here goes the fourth chapter!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 4: Living Hell**

"You guys think Hunter is safe?" Lance asked with a worried expression as the travelling group made their way through a mountainous area. There were rocks as far as the eye could see and Lance could not help but enjoy the sight around him for, as a dragon-type, he loved rocky areas.

"Don't you worry at all!" Blaze exclaimed. "My sidekick Missy is with him. He'll be just fine".

"I also think he'll be safe" Riv ascertained the group. "He seemed pretty strong to me".

"Yeah, that's true" Luna agreed. "Although… I have some doubts. The ones that attacked Phenac City seemed nasty. And they could still be after me. If they find out Hunter and his friends helped me, they'll be after him, too".

"Yeah, that's something I don't really get" Cloud said to her. "What's the deal with you anyway?"

"I am the Princess of Orre, daughter to Great King Magicus, who fought bravely to protect his homeland" Luna introduced herself. "I am on the run from a mysterious army that came and destroyed my hometown".

"So that's why Hunter told us to go to Agathe Village?" Blaze asked. "Because you are royalty?"

Luna nodded. Blaze seemed impressed. "Never expected to have royalty as a sidekick, but very nice" she said.

"For the millionth time" Cloud said, quite annoyed by the Vulpix' antics "we are not your sidekicks!"

"You sure?" Blaze grinned at the Riolu, who just sighed after Riv looked at the two fighting. "Riv, it sure pays off having you around" Lance grinned.

"Really? How?" the Absol asked.

"Well, you stop those two from fighting all the time" Lance pointed toward Blaze and Cloud who still stared at each other with anger. It was like they were ready to lunge at one another any second now.

A sudden roar interrupted them.

"What was that?" Luna asked, shaking in fear.

"Kinda sounded like the roar of a dragon" Lance replied. "We should be careful".

"Dragons don't scare me" Blaze exclaimed proudly and noticed a cave not too far off. She directly walked towards it.

"Hey, wait", Riv shouted after her. "This is dangerous. Are you really that stupid?"

Blaze did not react to Riv's shouting and continued approaching the cave.

"We have to go after her" Cloud said and rushed after Blaze. "Only Arceus may know what is inside of that cave".

"He's right" Lance exclaimed and followed Cloud. "Trust him. He knows what is going on"

Everyone ended up following Blaze towards the cave.

"Hello? Is anybody in there?" Blaze yelled into the cave.

"Will you be quiet?" Cloud growled and tackled her to the ground.

"Hey? What was that for?"

"You could be bringing us all to our certain deaths!"

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

"No, you won't!" Cloud got off Blaze and stood up. "You are just a little Vulpix. What can you do?"

"Anything you can't!" Blaze retorted.

"Now you've done it!" Cloud suddenly went on a rampage and madly attacked Blaze in his fit of rage. The Vulpix dodged every attack he launched at her, laughing at the Riolu's futile attempts to attack her.

Riv was going to separate the two, but another roar interrupted her yet again. Out of the cave, a huge Hydreigon suddenly appeared, roaring so loud that even Cloud and Blaze stopped moving. The Hydreigon was about twice the size of any regular Hydreigon and had dark red scales instead of blue ones.

"And here comes my lunch!" the Hydreigon growled. "Prepare to get devoured, little Pokémon"

"Run" Riv shouted. "Run as fast as you can"

Without any questions, everybody followed Riv's advice and made a run for it. Everybody but Blaze.

"You don't scare me" she said and sat still in front of the three headed dragon-type.

"You are either brave or stupid. Or both" the Hydreigon said. "Meh. Doesn't matter. You're just another meal for me!" With that, he lunged himself at Blaze for a powerful Crunch attack. The Vulpix just jumped aside and proudly stood on a rock. "Lame attack" she squealed. "You really need to learn to hit"

The Hydreigon slowly got angry and readied a Whirlwind.

"Blaze, get away from there!" Cloud shouted at her.

"What are you afraid of?" Blaze asked. "I am immortal!"

"She's too stupid to survive this" Cloud sighed in annoyance. "Guess, I don't have another choice" That said, he rushed to the battlefield.

"Lance, can you protect Luna for me?" Riv asked. The Bagon nodded, giving Riv the signal to rush to the fight as well.

"They are all stupid" Luna said while crying. "They don't stand a chance against this Hydreigon"

"How do you know?" Lance asked.

"If you must know, my mom was killed when I was little" Luna explained. "And my father was crippled. He only had one arm"

"That sounds harsh" Lance admitted.

"It was, but… we managed somehow" Luna said, still crying. "The one responsible for my mom's death and my dad's loss of one arm… was Buraki, an extraordinary powerful Hydreigon living in a cave near Agathe Village. And I think this is Buraki".

"What?" Lance suddenly looked shocked.

Indeed did the Hydreigon make short work out of Riv and Cloud.

"Now, to eat you, I'll just fetch my dining plates" he flew back into his cave.

"Run, now!" Riv jumped to her feet, running back towards Lance and Luna. Cloud followed her, pulling Blaze after him while holding one of her six tails.

The group ran away from the cave and as Buraki came back out, they were all gone. "Aw, man!" he cried in frustration. "Why does this always happen to me?"

"We barely made it" Riv said, breathing heavily.

"Yeah, that Hydreigon sure was strong" Cloud admitted. "Much stronger than I thought it would be"

"I could have defeated him alone" Blaze exclaimed. "But nooo, you guys had to butt in and ruin everything"

"Yeah, and I'll regret saving your sorry ass my entire life" Cloud grunted in frustration, while Luna healed him and Riv.

"I'm done" she said.

"Thanks, princess" Cloud said and smiled at her.

"I think we should take a break here" Lance offered. "It is a long way until we reach Agate Village. We should rest here for the night".

"That is a splendid idea, sidekick Lance!" Blaze said, curled up and immediately fell asleep.

"She's so…" Cloud growled, but then his tiredness got the better of him and he also fell asleep, as did Luna and Lance, leaving Riv on guard duty.

Meanwhile with Hunter and Missy…

"It is kinda creepy down here" Missy commented on her surroundings. "But it is also very exciting" She laughed.

"You sure are a weird Pokémon" Hunter said, scratching the back of his head.

"Why?" the Eevee slightly tilted her head to the side and gave the Treecko a questioning look.

"Just about two minutes ago you were crying, now you act as if nothing happened" he said.

"That's just how I am" Missy said with a gleeful smile on her face. "I always try to see the bright side of things"

"I sort of envy that ability" Hunter said quietly.

"Why, thank you sir" Missy gave a hearty laugh, the Treecko started laughing too.

"She's fun to be around" he thought. "A very interesting person…"

A sudden noise interrupted their moment. It sounded like two Pokémon talking to each other.

"Over there" Hunter whispered to Missy and the two hid behind a huge cargo box made of metal and peeked around the corner.

The Eevee's eyes widened in shock. A huge, about 3 metres tall, dragon with a gray body stood before a ghost-like creature without feet and only one eye.

"That… that is…" Missy breathed and Hunter gave her a confused look. Missy's breathing intervals got shorter and shorter the longer she stared at the huge creature which had cold yellow eyes that did not seem to be ready to show mercy of any sort.

"Missy, are you okay?" Hunter asked, worried about his new friend. Missy did not listen to him. This huge monster somehow struck fear to her heart. She could barely suppress her need to scream in terror. Suddenly, everything went black before her eyes and she saw images of an Umbreon and a Vaporeon being brutally stabbed by icicles and the two of them falling down a cliff, then a huge creature roaring before disappearing in a flash.

Missy lost consciousness and had to be held up by Hunter so she could not fall to the ground and make a noise.

"Missy, what happened?" he asked in shock. "Hey, wake up!"

Meanwhile, the creature and the ghost-like Pokémon were talking about something.

"Great Grandmaster" the ghost said. "Are you sure you want to pull through with this?"

"We can only strengthen our forces if we destroy the holy sanctuary hidden within Agate Village" the gray creature said. "I… will do that myself. You, Dusknoir, in the meantime will continue your search for the Light Stone"

"As you wish, my master" the ghost-like Pokémon named Dusknoir bowed before the creature and disappeared.

"Soon… everything shall be one with me" the dragon-like creature said and turned around, freezing the ground his feet touched in the process.

He directly walked past Hunter and Missy without noticing them.

"What was that?" Hunter asked and searched for a good hiding place to let Missy rest and hopefully wake up.

**Author's notes: Holy hell! Buraki got "BLITZ"ed. Well? How did you like the chapter? I hope you liked it and stay tuned for the next chapter! Peace out, my dear friends!**

**Sincerely,**

**Shining4Charizard**


	6. Harbingers of the Gale

**Author's notes: Well, that's it, folks! I don't need any more good characters. Hunter's team is complete! (Well, some guys come in later). But what is needed is more baddies, so concentrate on them. And please don't be sad, if the baddies die. They're the bad guys after all. Alright, now you know the news. On with the show!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 5: Harbingers of the Gale**

"Did that guy really just ignore us?" Hunter thought to himself as he carried the still unconscious Missy to a hopefully safer place. Just thinking about the huge dragon-like creature sent chills down his spine.

He walked around some corners and finally spotted a place to stay: a small underground lake inside something that could have very well been sewers of some sort. "Finally" he sighed in content and placed Missy next to the refreshing water, drinking some of it.

"What happened?" a slightly tired voice said and Missy stood up.

"You're awake" Hunter stated. "You had me worried. Why did you suddenly fall unconscious?"

"That… that monster was…" Missy was still deep in shock. Hunter noticed and shook his head, a sign for her to drop the topic if she did not want to talk about it. She felt grateful to him for this.

"Did you find a way out?" she finally asked. Hunter shook his head in reply. Missy's ears dropped. "So you didn't. What are we supposed to do then? Are we stuck here forever?"

"I don't think so" Hunter said. "I just didn't have the opportunity to search for a way out, because I had to get away from that monster, before he could notice us"

"What this monster and that other guy were talking about. Wasn't that weird?" Missy asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Even though I was unconscious, I could hear some of the words they were saying"

"Yeah… something about destroying a sanctuary in Agate Village"

Suddenly, it struck Hunter. "They are heading for the place the others are going to!" He quickly jumped to his feet. "We have to warn them somehow"

"But how?" Missy asked. "They are probably already there. What can we do to help them? To warn Blaze and the others not to walk straight to their deaths?"

"The answer is: nothing" a voice said.

"Who was that?" Hunter asked and looked around. Just a few inches away, a Slugma suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did you suddenly come from?" Missy asked, impressed by the Slugma's ability to approach them unnoticed.

"'tis called Camouflage, babe" the Slugma replied.

"So, are you a kind of ninja?" Missy asked, smiling brightly. "Oh, I loved ninjas back when I was little! They always have such cool moves!"

"And to think that she seemed depressed just a minute ago…" Hunter scratched the back of his head, then he turned towards the Slugma. "How long have you been following us"

"Since you witnessed the talk between Dusknoir and Kyurem" the Slugma replied.

"Kyurem? Is that the name of the monster we saw?"

"Exactly" Slugma nodded. "Kyurem has gathered around a huge army and plans to bury the world under a sheet of ice so he can rule it all alone"

"So he's the one responsible for the Gale of Darkness?" Hunter asked.

"That I don't know" Slugma shook his head. "The only thing I know is that he is going by the alias of 'Dragon Emperor', since he is the strongest of all the dragons"

"So he's the Dragon Emperor…" Hunter seemed to realize something. "And I always wondered which dragon-type Pokémon is powerful enough to strike fear into so many hearts…" He looked at Missy. "Even hers…"

"So… what is your name?" Missy suddenly asked the Slugma.

"My name is Devin" the Slugma replied. "But you're better off forgetting my name again, because… I am a ninja, after all"

"Umm… I don't know" Missy said, giggling. "I'd like it better if I remembered your name"

"You're a weird girl, you know that?" Devin asked and would have scratched the back of his head if he had any arms.

"More importantly" Hunter spoke up. "Can you show us a way out of here? We'd like to go to Agate Village as soon as possible"

"Agate Village, eh?" Devin asked, seeming surprised. "It is said that there is a place where sealed hearts can be opened again… and I also heard that Kyurem is planning to destroy it"

"Exactly that's why we have to go there as fast as possible" Hunter said. "Our friends are headed there and they are in mortal danger. We have to warn them. So please, Devin. If you know a way out of here, show it to us".

"There is a way" Devin replied, once again letting hope flare in Hunter's heart. "But… it could be risky for you to go through there"

"They say no risk, no fun" Missy giggled slightly.

"Alright, then" the fire slug said. "Follow me…" He went ahead, followed by Hunter and Missy.

Meanwhile, Cloud and the others have arrived at Agate Village, a peaceful place, where many Pokémon lived their lives in harmony.

"Sure is good to be back home" Riv enjoyed the air around her hometown. "I'm glad Hunter sent us here. He sure is a nice guy"

"So, this is where you come from?" Lance asked and looked around in awe. He had never seen a place this peaceful and quiet.

"This is beautiful" Blaze admitted. "Though not as beautiful as me, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!"

Cloud face palmed in reply and Luna just giggled a bit.

"So we meet again" a voice said.

"Hey, you're… Cold, right?" Blaze said, surprised to see the Sneasel here.

"So you remembered my name" Cold said. "And you even recognized it as such" He chuckled a bit. "Say… where's that little Eevee-chick that was accompanying you?"

"She went to that dirty place… what was it called?" Blaze asked.

"Pyrite Town" Cloud replied.

"Yes, she went there" Blaze added.

"And you are all here" Cold stated. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"We are waiting for a friend of ours" Riv said. "He should be arriving here soon"

"He's not really my friend…" Luna pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Such low-live thieves…"

"You have to be the princess of Orre" Cold said to her. Luna suddenly looked shocked.

"How do you know?" she asked, staring at the dark-type with a suspicious look in her eyes.

"It was hinted by the way you speak" Cold said. "And through my travels I got to know the identities of the royal family members. As a wanderer, you hear lots of things"

"I can believe that" Riv said, turning the attention back to Agate Village afterwards. "You can all stay at my place, if you like"

"Really? Thanks" Lance said, happily taking the offer.

Riv showed her new friends around her hometown. It really was a very peaceful town and the inhabitants were incredibly friendly, greeting the small group of Pokémon on sight.

"Guess the Gale of Darkness wasn't here yet", Lance said.

"What the eff is the Gale of Darkness?" Blaze asked, not knowing what the Bagon was talking about. Lance stared at her in disbelief, but Cold could clear up the misunderstanding by telling him she was from another region.

"The Gale of Darkness is…" Cloud started to explain but was quickly interrupted by a nearby splash.

"Hellooooo folks!" a happy voice squealed. "It is I, Felicia, the Finneon! Wheeee!" The little female fish-Pokémon jumped out of the water to somersault a little.

"Who's that?" Cloud asked, clearly disturbed by the annoying little girl.

"Ugh, someone's angry!" Felicia squealed. "Better run away before he gets me! Tee-hee! See ya later! Oh, and one more thing! Some big bad monster is headed here! He'll eat y'all if you don't make a run for it! Oh, holy sweet son of Kyogre, which would be Manaphy, following my logic! You're doomed. Doomed you hear me? DOOMED! MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!" And with that, she twirled back into the river and suddenly, it started to rain heavily.

"A Rain Dance?" Lance said.

"Not now! I HATE rain!" Blaze screamed.

"What worries me more is what that little Finneon has said" Riv said with a worried expression on her face. "Do you think she told us the truth?"

"Nah, she's just crazy" Blaze said calmly. "And even if she told the truth, I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze, will kick that monster's butt faster than you can say 'Yay'".

"There she goes again…" Cloud rolled his eyes. "Will you ever stop overestimating yourself?"

"What are you talking about?" Blaze asked him. "I just state facts".

"Yeah, we know" Luna smiled at her to hide her sarcasm.

Riv's face suddenly was very serious.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked her.

"The wind… it has changed…" Riv replied with a dark tone in her voice.

"What's up with those dark clouds coming from over there?" Blaze asked, referring to what was practically a black wall composed of thunder clouds. Blue lightning occasionally flashed through them.

"A thunderstorm in the desert?" Cold scratched his head in confusion. "What the hell?"

"It's not only in the desert" Riv said. "Noticed the direction the wind comes from?"

"From those clouds…" Luna started to shake in fear.

"It's headed right here" Lance concluded, seeing some Pokémon panicking all around them. "The townspeople start to panic. Should we calm them down?"

"I have a better idea" Riv said and ran towards the townspeople. "Everyone, follow me"

Her friends quickly obeyed her and with combined effort, they managed to get the attention of the Pokémon living in Agate Village.

"My friends" Riv started. "The Day X is finally here. The Gale of Darkness heads straight toward us"

"Oh no! What are we gonna do?" cried some Pokémon, others were trying to find solutions but were too scared to make one up.

"Please, everyone" Riv pleaded. "Calm down for just one second. There is a way to escape the storm".

"Where?" the Pokémon asked in unison.

"You must all hide within Relic Forest, the place of harmony. That's the only way to escape it"

"We'll do what you say, Riv!" the Pokémon shouted in unison. "Please lead us"

Riv nodded and went ahead towards a cave which was hidden underneath the roots of a huge tree which overlooked the entire area.

Meanwhile, Cloud and the others kept watching the Gale of Darkness approaching.

"Which Pokémon could have such powers to whip up a huge storm cell like this?" Cloud asked.

"All the Pokémon whose hearts are tainted with hatred" Luna replied. "My father told me story about a war between Pokémon and humanity and how the hatred still remained in the world and someday manifested as the Gale of Darkness. Since then, the storm is travelling around the world, corrupting the hearts of many Pokémon, feeding their desire to wreck havoc once more"

"That sounds horrible" Blaze admitted.

"My father also told me that there was a catalyst to all this, someone who gathered the hatred and created the storm in the first place" Luna added. "But I do not know who that one could be"

The thunderclouds came nearer and nearer toward the once peaceful village and blue lightning bolts flashed around the clouds and to the ground, threatening to destroy everything in their path.

"Are you sure you are going the right way?" Missy asked after an hour worth of walking through a near pitch-black tunnel.

"This is the only way out if you want to avoid Pyrite Town…" Devin replied.

Hunter suddenly stopped walking.

"What's wrong with you? Did you see a Raticate?" Missy laughed a bit. "Or a ghost?"

"No… nothing like that" Hunter replied. "I just had some kind of… bad feeling, as if something horrible is about to happen".

"Oh no, really?" Missy looked worried. "What could it be?"

"I don't really know" Hunter replied. "It was just some kind of… warning, maybe"

"Terrible things tend to happen all the time" Devin said with a neutral tone in his voice. "It's pretty normal these days"

"I know… but what I felt was… something out of the ordinary" Hunter said.

Missy gulped and started to shake in fear. "It's a ghost, I tell you" she said. Her voice trembled with fear. "A terrible, creepy ghost"

"There are no ghosts here" Devin said, tone still somewhat neutral. Hunter could not help but feel disturbed by the Slugma's attitude, but what he felt before kept sticking to his thoughts. It was something far worse than ghost, he was certain about that.

**Author's notes: Whew, thought I'd cut it here so that you guys have 'something' to look forward to. Are Kyurem and the one who made the storm really the same person? Find out next chapter!**

**Until next time!**

**-Shining4Charizard**


	7. Imprisoned

**Author's notes: Finally getting into action, this chapter will be a bit longer due to you guys sending in lots of OC's (I love you guys) and needed character intros because of that. So, I won't continue to spoil everything and just get this show on the road!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 6: Imprisoned**

"Hunter? You okay?" Missy asked with a curious look on her face.

"Yeah, I guess that bad feeling I had just subsided a little" Hunter replied. "It is still there, though…"

"Can I do something to help you?" Missy asked. "Like telling a joke?" She smiled brightly.

"Uh, no… thanks…" Hunter smiled back at her, but worry was still eating away at his calm demeanor.

"Do you wanna hear a joke, Devin?" Missy asked her other travelling companion.

"Not now, thanks" the Slugma said. His tone was still as serious as ever.

"You guys are boring, you know that?" Missy pouted, but then she laughed again.

"How can you be so calm when you know that our friends are in mortal danger?" Hunter asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Missy, don't you get it? Maybe they are going to die!"

"Die?" Missy's smile immediately turned into a frown and she turned away as to not let Hunter see it. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Sorry…" she said weakly.

"It's okay" Hunter said calmly.

Missy was silent.

"We're there" Devin said as the trio left the near pitch-black tunnel to arrive in what looked like a modern train station. The walls were entirely white and a heavy metal door was on the other side of the room.

"What is this place?" Hunter asked and looked around.

"This is one of the headquarters of the Dragon Emperor's army" Devin replied. "This is a secret passage from The Under to the vast desert. Once you go up by two floors, you'll arrive in the desert. Then, walk northwest to go to Agate Village. I wish you good luck…" With that, the fire slug suddenly vanished without a trace.

"Just great" Hunter grunted. "He led us right into the enemy's arms"

"But he said this is a secret passage" Missy said. "So the Dragon Emperor's underlings might not know anything about it"

"Or so you would think" a stern voice said and the metal door on the other side of the room suddenly flung open. A Samurott came into view alongside some other Pokémon, such as a female Zorua and an entire platoon of incredibly dangerous looking Pokémon with glowing red eyes.

"A fleet of Shadow Pokémon" Hunter cried out.

Missy shook in fear at the sight of the merciless looking creatures before her.

"Well, well… what do we have here?" the Samurott said. "You two must have come a long way to arrive here… well, in fact, I appreciate your arrival. You two make extraordinary candidates for more Shadow Pokémon"

"Who are you anyway?" the Zorua screamed.

"The same goes for you!" Hunter replied back.

"I am Nyx, the powerful Zorua!" the Zorua shouted. "And that's my boss, Samu! He leads this Shadow Pokémon Lab left behind the humans"

"Indeed" Samu, the Samurott, agreed. "And you two… will go to prison"

"Never" Hunter shouted and got himself ready to battle.

"Isn't he adorable?" Samu taunted and the Shadow Pokémon behind him started to laugh like robots. "Seize him!"

On that command, the Shadow Pokémon started to fiercely attack Hunter, who could not dodge their attacks.

"Hunter, no!" was the last thing he heard as his vision went black.

Meanwhile in Pyrite Town…

"Man, I wanna go out there and beat stuff up!" Gabriel complained, while Tysion looked out of a window.

"Have patience" he said. "I'm pretty sure that the chief will soon have another mission for us" In truth, he was desperately trying to calm himself down. The recent loss against his brother annoyed him to no end.

"He has" a voice said and both Gabriel and Tysion turned to see an Eevee standing at the entrance to their room.

"And who are you?" Tysion asked with a bored expression.

"Me? I'm E'en" the Eevee replied. "One of the Top Commanders in the army of the Dragon Emperor"

"You?" Gabriel started to laugh. "How can a little wimp like you get such a high position?" He glared at the Eevee who stayed calm.

"Well" E'en started and transformed himself into an Umbreon "like this"

"How can you…?" Tysion looked at the Eevee with a shocked expression as he regressed back to his original form.

"I was experimented on in the Shadow Pokémon Lab" E'en replied. "That's why I can transform at will"

"Impressive" Tysion said and meant it, while Gabriel just shrugged and pretended it was no big deal. In truth, he was jealous as heck.

"Well, your mission is to accompany me" E'en said. "To tell you the truth, the City Chief doesn't know anything about this, but I might need your help with something"

"I do not care about your business" Tysion said and got up from his seat. "But as long as I can destroy my brother, I'll do everything"

"Great…" E'en said. "When you help me, I promise you will be able to fight your brother… and more" He looked at Gabriel. "You… can even have all the money in the world… and all the power"

"For realz?" Gabriel asked and was suddenly ready to help the Eevee out. "If you can really promise me that, I'll do whatever you want!"

"Great" E'en smirked and led the two Pokémon out of town and into the desert. "First, we must fetch a few allies"

"Allies? For what?" Tysion asked.

"I'll explain when the time is right" E'en said, still smirking.

Hunter opened his eyes to look into the curious eyes of a strangely colored Grovyle. "Hey look!" the Groovyle squealed. "The little cutie is awake!"

"Where… is this?" Hunter asked and got up. He saw the apparently female Grovyle sitting right next to him. She was white as snow with gray leaves and light blue eyes. On a not that comfortable-looking bed sat another Grovyle of the same coloration who did not seem to care at all. He was a bit taller than her.

"Who are you?" Hunter asked, but the female Grovyle suddenly started to do something else.

"They are Luna and Luno" Missy replied, smiling brightly at Hunter. "They have been imprisoned, like us"

"Imprisoned?" Hunter asked, still having a headache. "So that Samu-guy got us, eh?" Missy nodded. "Seems like it"

"Damnit" Hunter punched the floor with a fist. "How are we supposed to help the others?"

"There is one simple solution" the taller Grovyle, Luno, said. "We have to break out"

"But that's not possible!" Luna, the female Grovyle, squealed. "We tried, but failed horribly. Hahaha!" She laughed happily and went to another corner of the room.

"Break out, huh?" Hunter thought and looked outside. Many other cells containing Pokémon were visible. "Where are we anyway?"

"This is the final station" a voice suddenly said. A female Quilava wearing a red bandanna around her neck approached the small group. "From here, we are all going to be turned to Shadow Pokémon"

"What?" Missy shouted. "We are all going to be these horrible Pokémon without feelings that attacked Hunter? No!"

"Yes" Luno said, annoyed. "And don't scream so loud, I'm trying to sleep"

"Brother! How can you sleep when we are all going to freakin' die?" Luna screamed, then ran in a circle.

After five minutes, she drew a picture on the ground with her leaves and the dust that was present in the cell.

"She's weird" Hunter commented after five more minutes. Missy and the Quilava agreed with him.

"I am Lava, by the way" the Quilava introduced herself.

"I am Hunter, this is Missy" the Treecko introduced himself and the Eevee to the Quilava.

"Oh and this…" Lava started and pointed to a little Cyndaquil with red and blue goggles. "This is my little brother Heat"

"H-hello" the Cyndaquil said, shaking in fear.

"You don't have to be afraid" Missy said, approaching Heat a little and smiling at him. "We won't hurt you, I promise"

"R-really?" Heat asked.

Missy nodded and smiled brighter. Heats shaking stopped a little.

"See? Much better, right?" Missy asked. Heat nodded slowly.

"Oh, aren't you cute?" Luna asked and hugged Hunter tightly. "You are my little sweetheart, aren't you? Yes, come to me"

"What's up with you?" Hunter shouted and tried to push the overly attached Grovyle away.

"She probably thinks you're her pet" Missy giggled. "Isn't that sweet?"

"No, it is NOT sweet" Hunter said while making another futile attempt to escape the female Grovyle's grasp.

Missy could not help but laugh at the sight of this. Lava, Heat and even Luno laughed a bit, but then they went serious again after Luna let go off Hunter and decided to turn her attention toward the architecture once more.

"So… how do we break out of here?" Hunter asked.

"Are you insane?" Luno spat "We already told you that we tried and failed. One of our comrades was seized and got made into a Shadow Pokémon immediately"

"It might be a crazy idea" Hunter admitted. "But… I cannot afford to sit around and wait for the end. I have to do something. I have to go to the others. They are probably still waiting for us and… I'm not the type to let others wait for extended periods"

"Hunter…" Missy stared in awe at the Treecko who, even in a seemingly hopeless situation such as theirs, did not back down.

"I'm with you" Lava suddenly spoke up. "If anything, I don't want Heat to become a Shadow Pokémon. He's just too young and I want him to live a happy life. For this reason, I'll go with you, Hunter!"

"Me too" Missy said. "I think that if I stay with you, I might see my best friend once more"

"And what about you two, Luna and Luno?" Treecko asked his two evolution stages.

"Works for me" Luno shrugged. "Better than sitting around in this dump"

"And my little sweetie here needs someone to protect him" Luna squealed and hugged Hunter, much to the latter's annoyance.

"So, when do we break out?" Luno asked.

"At night, when no guards are around" Hunter replied. "But we need to do a little bit of preparation for this"

"Like what?" Lava asked.

"First, we all need to work together for this to really work out. Everyone has to fulfill a specific role in this plan. It might be wise if we pretend to give up in the evening so they don't watch us that strongly while one of us starts to dig us a hole out of here. Anyone here that knows Dig?"

Everybody shook their heads.

"I guess, I'll have to do that part then. Who of you is a good actor or actress?"

"I am!" Luna happily squealed.

"Good" Hunter nodded "You'll be in charge of the diversion, then"

"But what if they notice the hole too early?" Luno asked. "We'd need some camouflage for it"

"I can provide that with my Smokescreen" Lava said.

"Works for me. Good, Lava. You're in charge of hiding the hole"

"I… I want to h-help her" Heat spoke up.

"If you can" the Treecko approved of the idea. "Then that's settled"

"Wait" Missy suddenly spoke up. "What should I do?"

"You have the most important job" Hunter said. "I don't really want you to put yourself in danger, but I saw your fighting skills, so you will provide cover while the others flee"

"Alright, I'll do that" Missy smiled at him.

"Good, we'll start in the evening"

At the same time in Agate Village…

"The Gale of Darkness is still approaching" Luna gulped with fear.

"And there's nothing we can do about it" Lance added. "Nothing at all"

"We could try and beat the one that's making that thing" Blaze suggested.

"Someone that creates a storm this strong is WAY out of your league!" Cloud said and sighed with slight annoyance.

"So… shouldn't we try and make a run for it?" Luna asked.

"Never" Cloud spoke. "We promised to wait for Hunter here. We can never go back on our word. It would be like abandoning our family" He thought of Tysion and rage built up in his stomach.

"But even if you wait here, the storm will get you"

"Who said that?" Lance asked and looked around.

"Try looking over here" a voice said, then it giggled and from a rock a Ponyta jumped down.

"And you are…?" Riv, who just came back from the Relic Forest, asked.

"I am Argo, a travelling fighter who wants to free this world of the Shadow Pokémon" the Ponyta introduced herself. "I was resting here until I heard that the Gale of Darkness is nearing"

"You fight against Shadow Pokémon?" Cloud asked.

Argo nodded in reply.

"We do, too" Lance informed her. "In fact, we are waiting for our friend to help us out"

"That sounds good enough for me" Argo agreed and smiled.

"Hah! Yet another sidekick for me, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!" the Vulpix shouted and looked at the Ponyta, who just gave her a bewildered look.

The nice introduction did not last long as the threatening rumble of thunder was drawing noticeably nearer.

"If we want to run, now's the time" Riv said.

"I say we stay here!" Lance shouted. "We have to withstand this!"

"He's right" Cloud agreed to him. "If we cannot make it through this one, we can never survive a fight against the Dragon Emperor"

"So… you wish to fight me?" a dark voice asked and a cold wind blew across the village. "Then… try your best"

A titanic gray creature with a ragged body suddenly appeared before the friends, who froze in shock.

"This is… the Dragon Emperor?" Cloud asked shocked.

"Yes… he is…" Argo agreed. "I saw him once before… and I even know his name. It is feared all over the world… Kyurem"

"But what does it get you to know my name?" the huge draconic creature asked. "It'll tell you: nothing!"

Kyurem roared loudly and the area around him flash-froze.

**Author's notes: Aw, snap! Cloud and the others are screwed. Or are they? Find out next chapter!**

**-Shining4Charizard**


	8. Twisted Ideals  Part 1

**Author's notes: I'm back, folks! And today, I'll not bother you with my endless, borderless, unending talking. Just enjoy the Lucky Seven of my story!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 7: Twisted Ideals -Part 1-**

"Oh, we're toast", Cloud exclaimed upon seeing the tall figure of Kyurem.

"So you are the ones who oppose me?" Kyurem asked. "Hmph, guess I was lucky to find you here. Your meddling shall not be forgiven under any circumstance. I will finish you off in no time!"

"Stop talking, you big-mouthed lizard!" Lance shouted and attacked Kyurem head on with his Iron Head.

"Foolish" Kyurem smirked and effortlessly slammed Lance into the ground.

"Lance, are you okay?" Luna shouted, worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Lance grunted and got up, while Riv managed to distract Kyurem with the blade on her head and a powerful Night Slash attack. Blaze and Cloud joined in with their own attacks, but neither did any damage to Kyurem.

"Did you really think you could hurt me with pointless attacks such as these?" the ice dragon taunted. "This is what I call an attack" he announced and whipped up a powerful Blizzard, covering the entire area under a sheet of snow and ice.

Riv, Luna and the others were covered by the ice and snow, only Cloud and Blaze managed to escape.

"Now, Blaze!" Cloud shouted toward her. The Vulpix quickly caught on and struck the ice dragon with her most powerful Fire Blast.

"You little fleas..." Kyurem muttered and jumped into the air to smash the two into the ice below him. He was too occupied with Blaze and Cloud so he could not notice Lance, who got out of his icy prison and went on a rampage with his Outrage. Kyurem was hit head on but it still did not do any damage whatsoever.

"Fool" Kyurem muttered and used his Glaciate attack. Lance was surrounded by icicles. The small dragon roared loudly and tried to attack the icicles with Fire Blast, but his attack could not melt the ice and the icicles went right toward him. "Lance! Watch out!" Luna tackled Lance out of the attack but was struck herself.

"Princess! No!" Lance shouted and his anger rose to the max. His eyes flashed red and he roared like a true dragon would do. In his rage, his Outrage attack got over ten times stronger than normal and he really managed to do some minor damage to Kyurem with it.

"This little guy has some power" Kyurem commented. "He is the first to be able to hit me since Reshiram and Zekrom... heh. Not bad at all"

"Luna!" Riv shouted and rushed towards the princess of Orre, who was halfway covered in ice. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so" Luna smiled weakly. "What about you, Riv?"

"I'm okay" Riv said hastily. "It is now our top priority to get out of here. Come with me"

"But I want to stay with Blaze and the others" she pointed toward Lance, Cloud and Vulpix who were struggling to get a hit in. "They need our help"

"Fine" Riv agreed. "But you stay on the sidelines where I can see you, okay?" Luna nodded as Riv rushed back to the battle.

Lance was still in a fit of rage and attacked anyone who got near him. But he slowly calmed down as his body started to glow.

"What is happening to me?" he said awestruck after completely calming down again. His body was wrapped in a round, sturdy, grayish-white shell. He evolved into a Shelgon.

"I evolved" he said.

"That's cool" Cloud congratulated his friend.

"Save that for later" Riv said while struggling to block a Dragon Claw with her Night Slash attack. "We still have this problem over here"

"You're right" Lance said and rolled over to perform his Iron Head again. Kyurem dodged by jumping on a nearby cliff.

Here, Argo was waiting for him.

"You're going down, pal" she snickered.

"What?" Kyurem angrily turned around, but it was too late. Argo used an Inferno attack to melt off the cliff and Kyurem fell down. Instead of staying up there as the plan was, Argo's fighting spirit got the best of her and she rushed at the legendary Pokémon with Flame Charge. Kyurem, with his own Outrage, quickly tackled her away and she fell into a pile of ice shards, which broke upon impact.

"Your teamwork is extraordinary" Kyurem commented. "But your strength is disappointing. You are not a thread to me"

"Maybe not" Riv agreed. "But at least we tried"

"Besides, who are you to judge our strength in battle?" Blaze said angrily. "You ain't seen nothing!"

"She's right" Cloud agreed (for once). "Our strengths go much farther than this"

"Then show me you true skills" Kyurem taunted. "Come on, I'm waiting"

"HERE YOU GO!" Argo shouted and tackled Kyurem from the side with another Flame Charge.

"You annoy me" Kyurem announced coldly and made short work of her by trapping her inside a huge block of ice.

"Argo!" Luna cried.

"You're next" Kyurem now was truly angry and his cold, merciless eyes flashed for a short moment. Luna felt something weird in her entire body. She felt like she could break any second. "W-what is that?" she asked.

Kyurem chuckled evilly. "That's two down" he muttered. "And four to go" he turned toward Riv, Cloud, Blaze and Lance who stared at the legendary Pokémon in disbelief.

"We gotta admit" Lance began. "We don't stand a chance"

"This fight is not over!" Cloud announced. "I refuse to give up until my body won't move again!"

"That's a bit reckless, but I agree" Riv said, brimming with confidence.

"I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze, am immortal anyway, so nothing will happen to me!" Blaze said. "I'm not scared of you, Kyurem-dork!"

"I have to say, your courage does not leave anything to desire" Kyurem said. "But playtime's over! Zek! To me!"

A sudden roar startled the young Pokémon and from the darkened sky appeared a black, bipedal dragon with a turbine for a tail.

"That's the legendary Pokémon Zekrom!" Riv shouted.

"He has... a Pokémon THIS strong under his control?" Cloud stared at Zekrom, who just roared and landed next to Kyurem.

"Aren't you lucky?" the ice dragon taunted. "For your courage, I'll award you with the opportunity to see me in my ultimate form!"

With that, he wrapped himself and Zekrom, who roared even louder, in a black and gray aura which flashed blue from time to time. Inside of that aura, the two legendary dragons merged. Witnessing such a fusion was shocking for our friends, who have never seen something like this before.

The new Pokémon landed on the ground and roared loudly. "This is... Black Kyurem!" the new Pokémon announced.

"He looks stronger now" Cloud gulped.

"Hah! Nothing, I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze have to be afraid of" Blaze laughed.

Black Kyurem wrapped himself in a huge ball of blue electricity and soared up to the sky. He came back down and rammed into the four Pokémon, who flew into different directions due to the impact.

"He's... too strong..." Cloud, who landed on the frozen river, breathed weakly.

"He... I'm... I'm scared..." Blaze shivered in fear while hanging from a tree branch with one tail. Riv and Lance lied motionlessly on the ground.

"Now to destroy the Relic Forest" Black Kyurem murmured and went towards the cave.

"We... won't let you..." Riv, who got up, said.

"Yeah... we'll protect Relic Forest from you" Lance agreed.

"I'll never submit to someone like you" Blaze growled.

"Me either" Cloud agreed.

"You foolish little Pokémon" Black Kyurem roared. "Do you really think you can defeat me? Don't make me laugh!"

His body was wrapped in an aura of a mix of electricity and ice. "Freeze Bolt!" he announced and got up in the air.

"No!" Luna suddenly shouted. "Don't do this to my friends! Stop it!"

"You annoy me... again" Black Kyurem muttered and his eyes flashed again.  
>Luna let out a sharp breath before she shattered like glass.<p>

"What?" the friends stared in disbelief at the place where the princess of Orre had been standing just two seconds ago.

"He... he killed her" Cloud brought his hands to his mouth.

"You're next" Black Kyurem announced to the friends, but a bright green glow suddenly stopped him. "What is that?"

"What's happening?" Lance asked as he watched the ice slowly disappearing.

"I won't let you hurt my forest nor any Pokémon in it any further, Kyurem!" a clear and feminine voice suddenly announced.

"You are...?" Kyurem stared at the entrance towards Relic Forest where a small figure appeared.

**Author's notes: So, the princess of Orre is dead. Who cares?**

**Black Kyurem's kicking ass and is stopped by a small figure. Who could it be? Find out next chapter!**

**-Shining4Charizard **


	9. Twisted Ideals Part 2

**Author's notes: Greetings, my friends! And in comes a brand new chapter of my story "the Adventures of Hunter". I hope you guys enjoy it! Have fun!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 8: Twisted Ideals –Part 2-**

"What is that light?" Cloud asked, needing to cover his eyes because the light was too strong for him.

"I don't know" Riv replied. "But I've got a feeling that we'll get to know that pretty soon"

Lance could keep his eyes open, since his shell provided him with some protection from the bright green light. "I can see a small being inside of it" he said. "It seems like it is approaching us"

Kyurem roared. "So, you deliberately show yourself" he said. "Even though the difference in power is painfully obvious"

"We don't know that yet, Kyurem" the feminine voice said as the bright light started to reveal a fairy-like figure, which was not bigger than your average Baby-Pokémon. "At least not, until we try"

"Celebi, voice of the forest" Kyurem said, seemingly amused by the appearance of the little creature. "Your appearance makes my job so much easier"

"What do you mean?" the little green fairy asked and gave the huge dragon a bewildered look.

"Don't pretend like you don't know anything" Kyurem roared. "Your power to show others their past memories is the only one that can open the hearts of the Shadow Pokémon created through my Gale of Darkness"

"So Kyurem IS the creator of the storm we're suffering from?" anger rose from Cloud's gut. "He's gonna pay for this"

"But we are not strong enough to fight him now" Blaze said. "Even I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze, don't stand a chance against him"

"That YOU would admit something like that" Cloud rolled his eyes. "The apocalypse must be drawing near"

"It's already here, genius" Riv said. "See, there it is!" She pointed towards Kyurem, who stared at the little fairy-like Pokémon named Celebi.

"So your plan was to capture me?" Celebi asked and suddenly started to giggle. "You won't capture me, you'll see"

"Don't underestimate me" Kyurem roared and opened his mouth to fire off a powerful Dragon Breath. Celebi barely dodged the attack and the Dragon Breath hit a tree branch, which was melted in an instant.

"Uh-oh" Celebi thought. "If that hit me just now, I'd be burnt like crisps… hmm, crisps" She licked her lips while thinking about the flavor of potato-crisps. That was a fatal mistake. Kyurem used her distraction to strike her with a powerful Dragon Claw, which smashed Celebi into a rock wall.

"Oh no!" Riv shouted from her hiding place.

"Well, so much for the 'Voice of the Forest'" Cloud shrugged. "She did not put up a fight that well"

Celebi shot out of her landing place, having protected herself with a green Protect shield. "You big meanie!" she pouted and gathered energy in between her palms. She threw the energy sphere that was forming at Kyurem, but he used his hand to repel the Energy Ball.

"Pitful" the black ice dragon taunted. "I expected more from the daughter of the Ruler of Time. Well, what disappointment" He surrounded himself in a sphere of blue electricity and slammed himself into Celebi who was not fast enough to dodge the attack.

The poor little Pokémon was slammed into the ground and enveloped in a huge explosion of blue lightning bolts.

Kyurem shot up from the smoke cloud the explosion left to examine the fairy Pokémon Celebi. She was lying on the ground, desperately trying to get up, but she failed.

"Hmph, so much for the 'Voice of the Forest'" he grunted. "In the end, she was just another victim…"

"Zek… please… help me…" Celebi breathed weakly. "I beg you… break free from his grasp…"

Apparently, Celebi's prayers were heard. Kyurem felt something weird going on inside of him.

"What is this?" he asked and started to behave oddly. "My limbs… they won't react anymore. So… Zek is trying to break free from my control, eh? Hmph… pitful"

Kyurem roared loudly and black smoke emitted from the transparent icicles on his back. His tail suddenly started to glow blue, as did some of the black parts of his body. From the turbine-like structure at the beginning of his tail came several blue energy wires and attached themselves to his back.

Kyurem once again roared as the black smoke cleared.

"What happened?" Lance asked.

"Kyurem just did something weird…" Riv replied. "I can't quite make out what it was… but he looks even more dangerous now than he did before"

"It's his Overdrive Mode" Celebi suddenly said. "He doubles his attacking power while at the same time seizing complete control over Zekrom's mind inside of him"

The little fairy was carried by Cloud, who used the temporary distraction to fetch her.

"Thank you" Celebi said weakly.

"No problem" Cloud replied while smiling.

"You know…" Blaze started. "For a minute there… I could somehow hear Zekrom's voice calling out to me…"

"What? We didn't hear anything" Lance said, baffled by Blaze's comment. "How come only you could hear his voice?"

Blaze shook her head. "I don't know" she said. "But maybe it's because I am the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!" She puffed out her chest and grinned proudly.

"What did Zekrom say to you?" Celebi asked.

"It was not a long sentence" Blaze described, what Zekrom had said to her through his mind. "It was more like a cry for help, or something like that… a painful 'Help meeee…'"

Kyurem roared once more and began emitting lightning bolts.

"We need to get out of here" Cloud shouted. "He's going with his Freeze Bolt again! Celebi! Can you teleport us somewhere?"

"I'm really weak right now" Celebi admitted. "But I'll try anyways…" She concentrated herself a bit and before the Freeze Bolt could completely annihilate the whole area along with them, they were teleported somewhere else.

They were inside of a deep forest now.

"Where are we?" Cloud asked and looked around.

"I don't know" Riv said, checking her surroundings as well.

"What happened to Celebi?" Lance asked and looked at the little creature which was still lying in Clouds arms, breathing slowly and steadily.

"I think she's asleep" Blaze said.

"At least, she is not dead" Riv sighed. "But my home is…"

"And the princess of Orre too…" Cloud added.

"We have totally failed our purpose" Lance stated matter-of-factly.

Kyurem, who had completely absorbed Zekrom into his body by now and was currently in his normal form, stood in the middle of an icy wasteland.

"So they escaped, eh?" he thought to himself. "But at least the shrine is gone"

"Yep, sure is" a feminine voice said and a small rodent appeared at Kyurem's side. It was a Victini.

"Vivi, what are you doing here?" the Dragon Emperor asked.

The little rodent smiled cutely at Kyurem who was not impressed at all. "So, I found this frozen Ponyta" Vivi started to explain "and uhm… so yeah, she was frozen all over so I brought her to Cipher Lair where those freaks are turning her into a Shadow Pokémon"

"What about the others with Celebi?" Kyurem growled.

"Uhh, they got away?" Vivi stared at Kyurem with puppy eyes, but they did not work. Instead, she was thrown into an ice pillar.

"You useless little brat!" Kyurem roared and several icicles appeared around him. "You know what the punishment for failing your mission is, right?"

Vivi stared at her master with horror in her eyes. Stabbed by icicles was not exactly the kind of death she wished for. And even though she was convinced about her exclusive status as a rare Pokémon, she knew that she would not stand a chance against Kyurem in battle.

"I'll give you one last chance" Kyurem said with a dark tone in his voice. "And if you fail again… your blood shall spill over the ice of my Glaciate attack"

With that, Kyurem teleported away, leaving a terrified Victini alone in the icy wasteland that was left of Agate Village.

"What a big meanie" Vivi thought. "He destroyed my home…"

**Author's notes: Well, Kyurem's pissed now. Can the friends save Celebi before Kyurem gets her? And what about Hunter and the others? Find out next chapter!**

**Peace out!**

**-Shining4Charizard**


	10. No Way Out

**Author's notes: Wow, it's been a long time since my last update, eh? But here I am, providing you with new stuff to waste your time with :P. I am kidding. I hope you enjoy reading this brand new chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Have fun!**

**~ Shining4Charizard**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, Ash would get his Charizard back and it would pwn everything in sight...**

**... hey, a guy can dream, can he?**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 9: No Way Out**

„What are we going to do now?" Lance asked, while staring at his friends.

„I don't know" Riv shook her head in sadness. „If only we could reach Hunter...".

„And Missy too" Blaze added and looked around.

Just then, Cloud came back.

„How was it?" he was asked by Cold, who was with them.

„I couldn't figure out, where we are" the Riolu said. „Celebi teleported us to somewhere we don't know" He looked at the fairy-like creature, which was still sleeping.

„When is she finally waking up?" Blaze asked impatiently.

„You need to let her rest" Cloud snarled.

„Don't tell me what to do, puppy!" Blaze retorted.

„What did you say?"

„Wanna fight?"

„When?"

„Now!"

„Okay!"

Just as the two were ready to lunge at each other, a Shadow Ball grazed the ground between them and created a small rift. They both froze in shock and looked at Riv, who just fired the Shadow Ball at them.

„Stop fighting already" she growled. „We have problems more urgent than your feud"

„Hmph, if you say so" Cloud crossed his arms over his chest and turned away. Blaze also turned away, pouting.

Lance sighed. „Will they ever stop?" the Shelgon asked.

„I'm afraid, this'll go on for a while" Riv sighed too. She was annoyed by the bickering pair.

Cold just sat on a tree branch and ate a Rattata he had hunted in the forest. „It's missing some salt" he complained, but ate it anyway.

„I hope, Kyurem doesn't know about this place" Riv said. „If he does, we are in trouble"

„Argo!" Lance suddenly shouted. „Where is she?"

„I think, Kyurem froze her" Cold replied. „He must've taken her with him. If he did, her chances of survival are small..."

„Damn it..." Cloud cursed and kicked the dirt, which went flying away from his foot. „Can we do ANYTHING right?!"

„I wonder..." Blaze suddenly spoke up.

„About what?" the others asked.

„I wonder if you all becoming my sidekicks means something?" Blaze continued. „Like, were we chosen for something?"

„Now that you mention it" Cloud suddenly said. „I came to Orre from Mahagony Town in Johto, but I don't have a clue how... I was starving out in the desert, when Hunter came to save me. That's why I joined his cause... and I hope that with his help... I can figure out what exactly happened to me"

„Hunter is the turning point of everything" Lance said. „He and I were close friends since I don't know how long"

„Hunter once saved Princess Luna and me from burglars..." Riv explained. „You're right! Everyone of us, except for Cold and Blaze, met with Hunter and joined because of him... this has to mean something"

„I guess this means Hunter is a very likeable Pokémon" Blaze said and shrugged. „I wonder, what he's like. I hope, he's cute and friendly and strong and..." She blushed madly.

The others collectively shook their heads.

"I'm with you because Celebi teleported me along with you guys" Cold suddenly spoke up. "But now that you told me of him… I'm also eager to see what he's like"

"He deserves our trust" Riv said. "And I am sure that with time, we are going to meet him again"

"Hey! Why do we sit around and wait?" Cloud asked. "Let's search for him"

"What about Celebi?" Riv asked.

This caused Cloud to think. If they were to go now, they'd leave Celebi all alone.

"It's okay…" Celebi said and yawned, while floating upwards. "From here, I can go by myself. You may do as you wish"

"Celebi, just tell us… where are we?" Lance asked and looked around one more time.

"You are very close to a former Pokémon Research Lab, but it is closed now and in ruins" Celebi replied.

"Ah, this helps" Riv smiled. "Thanks Celebi"

"My pleasure" Celebi also smiled and winked at them, then it shot off into the forest.

"And she didn't give us any clue on how to beat Kyurem" Cloud notiched.

"Well, we need to figure that out on our own" Blaze stated and nodded her head as if she was thinking of something.

The little group started to walk to the east in the hopes of finding Hunter again. Several thoughts were implanted into their hearts, like if they would ever be able to beat Kyurem or if they really had what it took to save the world? They were all convinced that it was their fate to destroy the Dragon Empire, stop the Gale of Darkness and set the world free of despair and hatred. They were all convinced that – together with Hunter – they could reach this goal.

"I'm awesome, I'm amazing" Blaze kept repeating in her thoughts with every step.

… well, not everyone, apparently…

"If that Kyurem ever dares to show up again, I'll kick his ass!" Blaze shouted loudly.

"Yeah right" Cloud laughed sarcastically.

"Our top priority is to find Hunter" Lance said. "We can think of a way to kill Kyurem later"

"That's right" Cold agreed. Riv nodded as well.

"Grandmaster Kyurem" came a voice and Dusknoir came floating across the icy room in Kyurem's palace.

"What do you want now, Dusknoir?" the Dragon Emperor roared.

"We have created a hundred more Shadow Pokémon for your army" the ghost-type reported.

"I don't care" Kyurem seemingly was not in a good mood. "Have you finally found the Light Stone?"

"No, sir… we didn't" Dusknoir bowed his head and started shaking in fear of what might happen to him.

Kyurem let out a deafening roar which created several icicles on the ground, pointing in the direction Kyurem was facing.

Dusknoir placed his hands over his head protectively. "I'm sorry!" he shouted shivering from not only the cold. "I apologize"

"You are useless to me now!" Kyurem's eyes flashed and suddenly, Dusknoir shattered like glass. "If you are too incompetent to find the Light Stone… I might as well go and find it myself"

Just as he got up from his place, the huge ice crystal portal that led to his room swung open and an Eevee alongside a black Riolu and a Shinx suddenly appeared.

"So that's what the big boss looks like?" Gabriel asked, getting jealous again. "Why don't I have such a huge room to myself?"

"Shut up" Tysion growled.

"Grandmaster Kyurem" E'en greeted the huge frozen creature.

"E'en…" Kyurem seemed to be surprised by the Eevee's sudden arrival. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want?" E'en asked and laughed. "My only objective, Kyurem… is you!"

"Hmph…" Kyurem chuckled. "I knew it would come down to this. One of my top commanders tries to oppose me… you and Samu have always been rebels, right? Well, well… after I get rid of you… he'll be next"

"Kyurem… your way of doing things pisses me off" E'en roared and evolved into Flareon. "We'll settle this today!"

"Very well" Kyurem got up from his seat. "But I guarantee, this is a foolish move…"

"We'll see about that" E'en grinned. "Tysion! Gabriel! Fight with me!"

"Yessir!" the two Pokémon complied and got into a fighting stance.

"Is the hole all set?" Luno asked. Hunter stuck his head out of the hole he just dug and nodded.

"We can escape now" he whispered. "But be especially quiet. We don't want to wake the guardsmen".

"Hunter, you're cool" Missy said impressed by her friend.

"Heh, thanks" the Treecko smiled at her and scratched the back of his head. "But now come! Let's get out of here!"

Everyone nodded and jumped through the hole Hunter had made the whole day while Heat, Lava, Luna, Luno and Missy provided the proper diversion. It had been a risky task but they finally found a way to escape the despicable destiny of becoming a Shadow Pokémon. They were all filled with happy thoughts as they jumped through their escape tunnel.

But it was not outside where they ended up. Instead, they landed straight in a sewer below the Shadow Pokémon Lab.

"Eww" Missy said, grossed out. "What is this?"

"It stinks" Luna closed her nose with her claws, but it wasn't working.

"Hunter, where did you take us?" Luno asked in horror.

"It's scary…" Heat shook in fear and cradled into Lava's back fur.

"We're here with you…" she tried to calm him, but it didn't work. The little Cyndaquil shook in fear.

"I'm sorry, you guys" Hunter apologized to his friends. "But I know how we can get out of here"

"Really?" Missy's eyes started to shine brightly. "How?"

"This tunnel here leads to an exit not too far off" Hunter explained and pointed south. "If we take this route, we'll get out of here in no time"

"Not if I can help it!" a voice suddenly shouted and from the water, Samu the Samurott suddenly appeared.

"Oh no!" Missy cried out.

"How did he find us?" Luno clenched his teeth in anger.

"Heh… as if I didn't notice there was something going on in your cell…" Samu smirked evilly. "Instead stopping you right away, I thought about waiting down here. That makes it so much easier".

"What exactly?" Luna asked curiously, earning bewildered looks from her teammates.

"Killing you" Samu said with a threatening tone in his voice.

"Damn it" Hunter clenched his teeth. "What do we do now?"

"It seems like we have to fight this guy, if we want to get out of here" Missy said.

"Seems so" Lava let her back flare up, startling Heat.

"H-help!" he cried.

"Oh Heat" Lava tried to calm the young Pokémon down as best as she could. "Don't be scared. It will be alright, I promise" Then she turned around to Samu. "Do you have ANY idea how much you scare the little Heat? You prick!".

From her mouth came a powerful Flamethrower, which Samu countered with a Hydro Pump, which almost hit Lava, had Hunter not interfered with his Energy Ball. "I'll battle him on my own" the Treecko sternly said. The others were shocked by this statement.

"But why Hunter?" Missy asked with a worried expression. "Why do you want to fight alone? He's too strong for us"

"Yeah, let's fight together!" Luno agreed.

Hunter shook his head. "No" he said. "If we all fight him, we will all die here. But if I fight him alone, you'll be able to escape from here!"

"But Hunter!" tears were flowing down Missy's cheeks. "Are you going to kill yourself for us?"

"If you want to call it that" Hunter smiled.

"Don't say these ridiculous things, Hunter!" Missy broke out in tears. "You mustn't die! You hear me? Don't… don't leave me!"

"I will not leave you or anyone else, Missy" Hunter said calmly and softly touched her cheek. "I promise, I'll follow you once I finished him" He smiled at her. "Alright?"

"Hunter…" Missy breathed. She couldn't believe the determination in his eyes.

"Do you really want to do this?" Luno asked the Treecko, who nodded. "Then… there is no stopping you, hm?"

Hunter nodded again.

"Okay, you guys" Luno smiled at Hunter. "Let's leave this guy to him"

"But brother!" Luna was shocked by Luno's statement. "My little sweetie here can't win against him!"

"Maybe not, but he's got something inside of him…" Luno replied. "I can't quite explain what it is, but he… is the first Pokémon after you that I care about. I think, he just might be able to do it"

"If you say so, Luno" Luna reverted her eyes to the ground, then back up to her brother. "Alright! Let's get going!"

"Okay" Lava agreed. "Hunter, you must definitely come after us, alright?"

"I promise" Hunter smiled at them, then he turned to Missy. "Go with them. Lead them to Riv and the others. They should be waiting in Agathe Village, got it?"

The young Eevee nodded hesitantly, but finally complied. "Good luck, Hunter" she said with a sad tone in her voice then she left with the others.

"No one's escaping here!" Samu roared and tried going after them, but a powerful Energy Ball struck him on the head.

"Your enemy is here!" Hunter declared.

"You really are something" Samu admitted. "Taking me on all by yourself; me, Samu, leader of the Shadow Pokémon Lab and Commander in the army of the Dragon Emperor. It requires courage to do this, I'll give you that. But… nothing more!" He let loose a very strong Hydro Pump from his mouth, which Hunter dodged by jumping. He then spun around in the air, trying to hit the Samurott with his Pound attack, but the water-type detached one of the blades on his forelegs and extended it to use a very powerful Sacred Sword attack. "What?" Hunter could only stare in shock as the legendary sword struck him and threw him into a wall.

"Where… where did you learn… that attack…?" Hunter struggled to get up again.

"I have my ways…" Samu simply said and surrounded himself in water to use an Aqua Jet on Hunter, who could dodge the attack at the last second. Now, Samu was stuck in the wall due to the large horn on his forehead.

"You're open!" Hunter declared and fired several energy bullets from his mouth. The Bullet Seed struck Samu and created an explosion, blasting the wall that the Samurott was trapped in into pieces.

"You're strong…" the water-type admitted. "How did you get that good?"

"I have my ways" Hunter retorted and sprinted forward while being surrounded in a white light. He then jumped for a Quick Attack. Samurott again used Aqua Jet and the two attacks collided head on, throwing them both in the opposite direction. Samu landed in the water, while Hunter hit a pipe with his head and then fell to the ground.

Samu jumped out of the water, while Hunter had to struggle to pull himself together to stand up. He was heavily wounded and panting from exhaustion.

"You're finished already?" Samu taunted. "I somehow expected you to be stronger than this…".

Hunter struggled to get back up to his feet, but he could not do so. That last strike was too much for him to handle. "But at least I could help Missy and the others escape…" he thought and smiled.

"Well then… shall we end this?" Samu's horn suddenly glowed bright green and he rushed forward.

"A Megahorn?!" Hunter asked in shock and tried to dodge, but due to hitting his head earlier, his reactions were not as fast as they could be.

Everything around him flashed red and his vision faded away.

"At least… I saved… Missy… and… the others…"

"I'm sorry… I failed… Missy…"

**Author's notes: BOOM! The End! Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!**

**~Shining4Charizard**


	11. Staging a Coup d'État

**Author's notes: Yeah, the writer's block is finally over! Come to me, ideas! I hereby order you to fill my mind and... oh, you guys are already here? Oops...**

***Clears throat* anyway. I hope you enjoy this chapter while reading it. Have fun!**

**~ Shining4Charizard**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Pokémon. Never did, never will do.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 10: Staging a Coup d'Ètat**

„So you're scared to fight alone?" Kyurem mocked E'en. „Well, if you need the help of your companions, you might as well give up right now"

„Kyurem... there's so much you don't know about me" E'en grinned and glared at the ice dragon.

„If you want to wet your imaginary pants and run, now's your chance" the black Riolu said. „I will fight him. If I can beat Kyurem, my brother will be a piece of cake"

„You're right" a few sparks came from the Shinx' body and he readied himself to attack Kyurem. „I will not back down from some monstrous zombie!"

E'en started the fight with his Fire Blast attack, hoping to melt the floor's ice. It worked and the floor got wet in the process.

Kyurem jumped down from the pedestal he stood on and right in front of E'en, Tysion and Gabriel, towering over them like a living fortress. His left hand started to glow black with a purple outline and he smashed his claws into the ground beneath his opponents, because they had dodged the attack.

Tysion gathered dark energy between his palms and fired the energy as a Dark Pulse at Kyurem in a Kamehameha-like fashion. The attack indeed hit its mark, but did little to no damage.

Tysion landed in a safe distance and stared at the ice dragon in disbelief.

"Is he invincible?" he asked himself and got angry. Wrapped in a dark red aura, he rushed towards Kyurem, who was fighting snout to snout against E'en, who had transformed into an Umbreon to attack him physically and as such, Kyurem did not notice the Riolu readying his strongest move: Close Combat.

E'en, on the other hand, saw the Riolu coming and changed to Jolteon to make a quick escape as Tysion jumped on Kyurem's face and began attacking it with his limbs.

Kyurem growled a bit and was pushed back. Being a fighting-type attack, the Close Combat was quite effective on Kyurem. Every punch and kick connected and soon Kyurem's face was covered in bruises, the icy crest being cracked a little.

"Impressive" Kyurem muttered. "But… can you withstand this" He roared and cold air emitted from his body, creating a circle of icicles around him.

"Be careful!" E'en shouted to Tysion and Gabriel. "That's his Glaciate! If you get hit by this, you're dead!"

Just then, Kyurem fired the icicles at his opponents. E'en quickly changed to Flareon and used his Fire Blast to defend against the attack, but the icicles were made of a special kind of ice and were much larger than your average Pokémon and thus E'en's Fire Blast had little to no effect on Kyurem's attack, which simply pierced through the beam and made its way towards the Flareon.

Just then, Gabriel let loose a powerful Discharge and Tysion jumped in with his Close Combat, while E'en used Fire Spin. With their combined power, they managed to change the course of Kyurem's attack towards the wall, were the icicles got stuck.

"That proves that I'm the best" Gabriel grinned and suddenly, he glowed brightly. "What the? What's going on?"

Gabriel grew taller, some black fur grew from his chest, his head and back and he got a sterner look than before. "I evolved into Luxio" he said. "Now I can beat anybody!" He rushed forward and his fangs were wrapped in darkness. He jumped, ready to use Crunch on Kyurem, but the ice dragon was faster and struck him with Icy Wind. Gabriel was thrown back a little and landed on all fours next to Tysion and E'en, who had charged up their next attacks: a Fire Blast and a Dark Pulse respectively. They simultaneously let loose their attacks, which combined into one single, more powerful blast, with the Dark Pulse wrapped around E'en's Fire Blast.

Kyurem, who saw the attack too late to dodge it, used a powerful Dragon Pulse to redirect the attack's course to the ceiling above him.

"Foolish…" Kyurem taunted.

"Yeah, foolish" E'en agreed. "But it has to be seen, who of us made the foolish move!"

"What?" Kyurem asked and looked up. The Dark Pulse-Fire Blast combination had struck a supportive pillar on the ceiling, which was now crumbling. Kyurem could only stare as the ceiling of his castle collapsed on him and he was buried under the rubble in the process.

"We defeated him…" Tysion stared at the pile of rubble in disbelief. "We really killed the Dragon Emperor"

"With me here, this was given!" Gabriel said, trying to show off his "amazing" skills in battle.

"Shut up already…" Tysion growled.

Gabriel didn't listen to him as he was complimented by an imaginary audience, apparently earning applause and thanking them for it like a superstar.

Tysion face-palmed and shook his head.

Meanwhile E'en slowly stepped forward towards the rubble pile, grinning. "Finally…" he muttered. "Finally I can obtain the power I need to recreate the world as I want it… and bring it to peace! Dragon Emperor Kyurem… your power will belong to me starting today!"

"So that was your objective all along?" Tysion askd the Eevee, who had transformed back to his original form in the meantime.

"You're sharp, Tysion" E'en praised him. "I wanted to get my hands on Kyurem's power all along. And now my goal has finally been accomplished! Now, nothing stands between me and the world I desired! A world, where both humans and Pokémon can live together in peace… I want a world of just that…"

"Peace you said?" came a dark voice from the pile of rubble, greatly startling E'en, Tysion and Gabriel. "Let me clear this up for you. Peace is an empty word shell. It has no meaning. It isn't a real thing. There will NEVER be such a thing as peace. I myself came to understand that long ago". Blue lightning suddenly started to emit from the remains of the ceiling and they were blown into many different directions, revealing a grey and black dragon surrounded by an aura of electricity.

E'en's eyes widened in shock. "No…" he breathed. "That can't be… is that… is that…?!"

"Double u tee eff!" Gabriel exclaimed. "What the hell is this?!"

"It seems like this is one of Kyurem's ultimate forms I've been hearing about" Tysion replied. "To think we would push him this far…"

"I am BlackKyurem!" the black and grey dragon roared, while the aura around him got more intense. Lightning bolts were shooting everywhere in the room, destroying one part of the walls after another. "And this is, where you will meet your doom!" BlackKyurem shot up in the air, the aura of electricity formed a huge sphere around him and he smashed himself into E'en, Tysion and Gabriel, creating a huge explosion, destroying his castle and everything in it along with it.

Kyurem was standing a few metres away from his former castle.

"This is was happens to all who dare to betray me" he murmured. "But now I need a new hideout… grrr…"

He stomped away in anger and left the ruins that were his former castle to themselves.

"Oof…" E'en grunted as he dug himself out of the rubble. "Gabriel, Tysion… you okay?"

"Somehow…" Tysion said and held his left arm, which seemed to be broken. "How exactly did we survive?"

"Because I am so awesome…" Gabriel grinned although he was badly hurt.

"Geh… shut up…" Tysion growled.

"We need to get out of here…" E'en said weakly. "Before the rest of his minions arrive here…"

"You're right…" the other two said and they went away, suffering from their injuries.

"Do you think Hunter is okay?" Missy asked. "I'm kinda worried about him"

"I'm sure he is okay" Luna smiled. "He promised he'd follow us"

"I also believe in him" Lava agreed. "We said that we'd put our trust in him and so we have to believe in him now"

Luno nodded silently as the group continued to make their way through the sewers.

"Do you think we'll be getting out of here soon?" Missy asked. "It stinks in here. That's gross"

"Indeed" the others agreed.

"But now we have to put up with it" Luno grunted. "Personally, I don't care about how it smells in here. We're leaving anyway. We don't have to live in here, so stop complaining"

"That's my bro" Luna grinned. Missy laughed.

"You guys are funny" she said in-between laughing.

"Glad we could make you laugh" Luna smiled at the Eevee which seemed sad until now.

"What's wrong with Heat?" the white female Grovyle asked Lava.

"He's asleep" she replied. "The events until now tired him"

"Gotta admit, I'm tired myself" Missy yawned. "When we get out, let us rest somewhere"

Everybody agreed.

**Author' notes: That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, folks.**

**~ Shining4Charizard**


	12. Reunion & Descent into Darkness

**Author's notes: So, today, there is a double release going on! I'll put two chapters in one. Party!**

**Enjoy the 11th and 12th Chapter!**

**~ Shining4Charizard**

**Disclaimer: Nope, not owning Pokémon**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 11: Reunion**

"_I've failed everyone… I couldn't protect them… I couldn't be there for them… my friends… I'm so sorry… I… can't…"_

"Amplifying dark energy" a Metang reported.

"Closing of the heart, 5% complete" a Durant said. "6%, 7%..."

"It's going well, isn't it?" Nyx, the Zorua, asked her superior Samu, who just nodded.

"Forcefully making him a Shadow Pokémon… what is that Kyurem thinking?" he said in his thoughts. "I could have killed him right away…"

"Apparently, the emperor wishes to have him as a subordinate" Nyx supposed. "I believe, that guy has some kind of special power"

"Hmm…" Samu hummed. "Have you found his friends?"

"No, I didn't"

"That's too bad, isn't it?" a dark voice suddenly said, greatly startling both Samu and Nyx, who turned around to see Kyurem approaching them.

"What are you doing here?" Samu asked.

"I want to see how it is going… Samu" Kyurem looked at the sea otter Pokémon, then into the laboratory. "I see the creation of more Shadow Pokémon is going well?"

"It is…" Nyx said obediently. "Dragon Emperor Kyurem. What is it that brings you here?"

"There are several traitors in my army" Kyurem explained. "I wish you two to find and eliminate them"

"Yes, master" Samu nodded his head.

Kyurem growled at him. "You. Come with me for a moment" He escorted Samu out of the laboratory and into a large hallway. It was only barely lit, so the sight was restrained to a level of almost blindness. Apparently, Kyurem could see perfectly in here.

"Samu… you should know the traitor's name" he struck up a conversation. Samu had to gulp. A huge lump had formed in his throat and he swallowed it. Was it fear? The sea otter Pokémon started at his master and began shaking.

"Say, Samu… you have been taught the Sacred Sword to defeat me, isn't that right?"

Samu's eyes widened upon Kyurem's revelation. He couldn't say anything. The ice dragon smirked under his icy mask. "Samu… you despise me, do you not? You want to take my place, don't you?"  
>"M-master Kyurem, I…"<p>

"I don't think I need anymore explanations from you…"

Nyx froze in shock as she heard a loud scream coming from the hallways. She looked around and saw the peak of an icicle reaching past the corner. On the wall next to it was blood.

Just then, Kyurem returned to the room, having a Pikachu clean up the mess.

"Nyx, I am appointing you the next chief of this laboratory" he said and gave her something that looked like a black gem. As the Zorua touched the gem, she evolved into Zoroark.

"I… evolved?" she asked, startled by her new appearance and the method how she got it.

"I expect you to work hard" Kyurem said and left.

"I will" she shouted after him.

As Kyurem passed by the Pikachu that was lazily scrubbing the floor with a broom, he looked at it for a moment. The Pikachu noticed him and started scrubbing faster. "I'm the fastest worker in the world…" it sang.

Kyurem shook his head and went past the Pikachu, who sighed in content.

"Man, I almost screw that one up… and they only gave me this last chance at the Lend Employment Office…" it thought. "If I screw up, they'll kick me out for good!" He scrubbed as if his life depended on it… which it did.

"_What is this feeling? I'm feeling cold… this… this is darkness… isn't it? It's trying to reach me…"_

_Hunter woke up in a pitch-black room with only a bright spotlight on him. "What is this place? I… was never here before…"_

"_This is… the inside of your heart" a strong and cold voice told him. "You are currently being made into a Shadow Pokémon"_

"_Shadow Pokémon?" Hunter turned to look at the source of the voice, but he could not see anyone. "They can't make me into a Shadow Pokémon! I'll never let them!"_

"_But sealing your heart and thus your emotions seems to be pretty easy if you asked me…" the voice said. "Is it because… there was already dark energy inside of you?"_

"_No!" Hunter shook his head in frustration. "I'll never succumb to darkness! I'll never become a being that destroys this world"_

"_Does this world have anything to offer to you?"_

"_I have my friends" Hunter shouted. "As long as they are here, I will never…"_

"_Your friends, you say?" the voice chuckled. "Are they really your friends? Or is it rather that they accompany you because their goal is the same as yours?"_

"_They are my friends, I know it" Hunter shook his head again._

"_Think closely…" the voice ordered. "This world holds no value to you. Isn't that right? You already lost everything that was dear to you, and any connection you had to this world severed along with that event. Weren't that your words… Hunter?"_

"_How would you know?" Hunter growled and gritted his teeth. _

"_I'm here, am I not?" the voice retorted. "On the inside of your mind. I know you better than you know yourself"_

"_Are you Kyurem?" Hunter asked. "The one that forces Pokémon to become Shadow Pokémon?"_

"_Kyurem? How do you assume that I am him?" the voice sounded amused. "No… I am not Kyurem"_

"_Then who are you?"_

"_Think closely… you'll get it someday"_

"_Rather tell me: What do you want from me?"_

"_I want nothing aside from you stopping to constantly lie to yourself"_

"_Tsk…"_

* * *

><p>Missy and the others had finally made it out of the sewers and were standing on a clearing inside of a huge forest. It looked very peaceful in it, so the Pokémon decided to rest here.<p>

"This forest is beautiful" Missy said, happily looking at her surroundings.

"I love it!" Luna agreed and started jumping on a tree. "This is fun!"

"Finally a place to rest" Lava yawned and lay down. Heat jumped from her back into the soft grass below him.

"T-this feels great…" he said, lay down and fell asleep.

"Does he ever do anything else than sleeping?" Luno asked.

"Let him" his sister said with a slight scowl on her face. "If he's tired, he sleeps. It's as easy as that"

The others agreed to her.

"It was just a question" Luno closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest.

"Did we insult you? If yes, I'm sorry" Missy said worried.

Luno shook his head and sat down. "I don't care about insults" he said. "Nor do I care about you. I just wanted to get out of there"

"I wonder if Hunter is okay?" Missy said with a worried expression. "You think he's still alive?"

"I hope so" Luna replied. "My little sweetie mustn't die! Who else do I have to play with?"

"Nobody, I think" a voice suddenly said and the group turned to see Riv, Cloud, Blaze, Cold and Lance walking towards them.

"Blaze!" Missy shouted and rushed towards the Vulpix and hugged her tightly. "Blaze, I was worried. I'm so happy to finally see you again"

"Yeah, yeah" the Vulpix said happily. "Now I have my sidekick back!"

"Blaze, you…" Cloud growled and face-palmed. "Anyway… who are they?"

"You know, we were captured and imprisoned inside of the Shadow Pokémon Lab" Missy started to explain. "That's where we met them".

Luna, Luno, Heat and Lava introduced themselves. Afterwards Riv and the others introduced themselves as well.

"Where's Hunter?" Cloud then brought up. Missy looked at the ground below her.

"If you must know…" she started. "We escaped from prison and landed down in the sewers… that's when we were attacked by Samu, the Samurott and the commanding officer of the lab. Hunter fights him all alone… while telling us to run away".

"I see… that's Hunter for you" Lance pointed out. "Always reckless when it comes to his friends" Rage was building up inside of him.

"We must save him" Riv concluded. "Hunter can't win against such a strong Pokémon… I suppose the fight is already over"

"That means Hunter is dead now?" Cloud asked in shock.

Riv shook her head.

"I don't think so either" Lance suddenly interrupted. "Those guys that rule Pyrite Town have always made amends to get Hunter to become their subordinate. But he refused them all"

"They are most likely trying to make him a Shadow Pokémon right now" Cold said. "And if that is the case, Kyurem will be there too"

"Kyurem?" the others asked in shock. The Sneasel nodded. "I heard Kyurem supervises every making of a Shadow Pokémon. So if we plan to free Hunter, we probably have to be going up against Kyurem"

"That's a fight we absolutely can't win" Cloud shook his head. "Remember the last time we fought him? When we cornered him, he suddenly called for Zekrom and fused with him to become BlackKyurem. That's when our downfall began… we have to come up with some kind of strategy to beat him…"

"Strategy?" Blaze laughed. "Who needs that? I'll go in there alone and kick their collective butts!"

"Blaze, you also know that this will not work" Missy said, trying to calm her friend. "Kyurem seems to be far too strong for any of us"

"Then… we have no other choice" Lance suddenly said. "We must search for Reshiram"

"Reshiram? What is that?" Lava asked.

"It's Zekrom's counterpart" Lance replied. "The only Pokémon strong enough to defeat him and Kyurem"

"Do you think Reshiram alone can beat Kyurem?" Cloud asked. "Especially when he becomes BlackKyurem?"

"It is our only hope to find Reshiram" Lance said, holding on to his point. "Otherwise, we can forget about any other action".

"But where do we start searching?" Missy asked. "It's not like we have any clue where Reshiram could be"

"I do have one" Cold suddenly said.

"What? Where?"

"The Temple of Truth and Ideals to the far north" Cold answered. "Maybe Reshiram is over there?"

"Then let us go!" Cloud shouted. "Hunter depends on us!"

"Yeah!" they shouted and walked north to find what Cold called the Temple of Truth and Ideals. They knew that this temple was their only way to save Hunter.

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 12: Descend into Darkness**

"_Hunter… if you don't believe me… take a look at your past yourself…"_

"_What is that going to change?" Hunter asked angrily. "You can show me my past all you want. You'll never make me become a Shadow Pokémon"_

"_Good… let hatred be your guide" the voice said in a seductive tone. "The more hatred you accumulate, the more the darkness will affect your heart and you'll become the ultimate Shadow Pokémon… one that can even kill the Dragon Commanders…"_

"_I don't want to become such a thing!" Hunter shouted out. "I'd rather die!"_

"_Becoming a Shadow Pokémon is the only way for you to avenge those that have died and finally fulfilling your ideals… take a look at your past. Then you shall understand my words…"_

_Everything around Hunter suddenly flashed white and he found himself inside a lush village located in a forest._

"_That's my… home village…" he thought and looked around. He saw a male Treecko playing with a female Chikorita, a male Bulbasaur, a male Turtwig and a female Snivy. "That's me and my best friends… but… how is that even possible?"_

"_You had a very peaceful life alongside your friends" he could hear the voice talking to him. "No difficulties whatsoever… no one that tried to slay you all the time… it's a life you could have been envied for". _

"_I…" he saw himself smiling along with his friends, then they ran farther and farther away until Hunter could no longer see them. "Wait…" he said weakly and extended his arm. "Please wait for me…"_

"_It's too late to return now, Hunter" the voice said to him. "Remember that one conversation you had with Chikorita?"_

_The scenery suddenly changed to a small hill in the village at night._

_He was sitting next to the Chikorita and staring up at the starry sky. _

"_This is the last time we can be enjoying this view together…" the Chikorita said smiling._

_Hunter just nodded. "What do you think will happen tomorrow?"_

"_If it is right what Snivy's father said, I'll be freed from my sorrows… and from this disease"_

"_Chikorita… I… wish I could help you somehow…" Hunter said sadly._

_Chikorita smiled and shook her head. "It's okay…" she said. "You have done enough for me, Hunter. Though I was suffering from a disease that would eventually kill me… you still accepted me as your friend. I can't thank you enough for that. It was you who… released me from this constant suffering…"_

"_Chikorita… I…"_

"_It's okay… Hunter. Though I won't last until the day after tomorrow… I still want you to be happy, okay?"_

"_Don't make it sound like a last will!" Hunter suddenly cried. "I will find a way to save you! You'll see! The day after tomorrow… we'll be playing just like all the other days! I swear it!"_

_Chikorita shook her head and used her leaf to gently touch Hunter's cheek. "It's too late, Hunter. There's nothing that can save me… this disease has spread too fast… my parents told me that I was always half-dead"._

"_No…" Hunter breathed. "No… I won't let you die, you hear me? I won't!"_

_His older self was standing right behind the two and cried. "This is…" he said between sobs. "Why are you showing me this?"_

"_The next day…" the voice started and ignored his question. "You, your parents and all the other Pokémon from your village went to the hospital to look after Chikorita, who suffered from a heart attack that morning… right after talking to you"._

_A picture appeared in front of Hunter. Everybody was standing around a bed in a hospital while he sat right next to the bed, crying into the sheets while holding the front paw of Chikorita, who was motionlessly lying there. She had a smile on her face, having just said goodbye to her friends and family. _

"_After that, you ran to the very hill where you last talked to your friend Chikorita" the voice continued retelling Hunter's story. _

_The scenery switched once again to show his younger self crying on the hill._

"_Why did I fail?" he asked. "Why couldn't I save her? Why? Am I really… this powerless? Or is it… this world that doesn't let me save those I love? A world without Chikorita by my side… is just meaningless to me… I couldn't care less if it vanished or not… I will never forgive this!" With this conclusion, he let out a strong roar._

_The scenery vanished and Hunter was back in the pitch-black room with only the bright spotlight on him providing some light. _

"_That was the oath that you made at that time" the voice told him._

_Hunter said nothing in reply. He was too stunned to answer, due to having to witness the tragic events of his childhood again. _

"_And then…" the voice continued to explain and the scenery switched again to show Hunter's former home getting devoured by a cataclysmic fire. _

_He saw many of his former friends running for their lives and getting caught by the flames, thus burning under great deals of pain. Then he saw his younger self crying amidst the chaos. He just stood there, not being able to do anything. In front of him his parents were lying motionlessly on the ground in their own blood. A shadowy figure, whose identity he couldn't make out, was standing in front of their dead bodies._

"_Come with me if you don't want to suffer the same fate…" the figure said, but Hunter could not move a muscle. _

"_Hmph, you sure are persistent… very well. Burn along with this village" the figure disappeared, leaving Hunter alone in the burning remains of his home. _

"_And that…" the voice said and the scenery switched back to the dark room he previously was in. "… is your past, Hunter. Do you get it now? You have gone through so much suffering, yet you still cling to this world, which even you claimed to be worthless? Don't you see that you are contradicting yourself?"_

"_I wanted to forget all this…" Hunter murmured. "I then went to Orre alone… working as a spy to keep me alive… when I arrived in Pyrite Town, Cloud and Lance took me in and one day, I made friends with them. By then, I already had forgotten my vow to avenge the death of Chikorita and everyone else in my village. I had already forgotten about how this world didn't mean anything as long as Chikorita wasn't there… I betrayed her… and the promise I made to her..."_

"_You finally understand it…" the voice seemed satisfied. "I'll give you a portion of my power. Work so you can destroy this meaningless world… good luck, Hunter…"_

The laboratory suddenly started shaking.

"What's going on?" Nyx asked.

"The Power of Darkness inside of him suddenly grew to more than dangerous levels!" one of the scientists shouted in fear and stared at a tank which was filled with a black liquid. Hunter was glowing bright red and suddenly grew bigger in appearance and darker in colour. He evolved into a dark grey Grovyle with black leaves and a blood red underbelly. As he awoke, his blood red eyes became visible. The pupils were now nothing more than small slits, showing nothing but a desire to kill everything in sight. A rumbling sound could be heard.

"What's that sound?" Nyx asked her subordinates, but her question was soon answered by Hunter, who let out a deafening roar, causing the glass tank he was trapped in to shatter. Black liquid oozed everywhere and tucked the Pokémon standing around in the room to the ground.

Growling, Hunter landed on the ground as well, but was not affected by the liquid. He roared loudly and slaughtered every single Pokémon in the laboratory.

Nyx, who was standing on a balcony above the laboratory, could only stare in shock at what their newest creation did. "He's… totally insane…" she thought, then regained her composure, grabbing a nearby microphone and ordered the guards to come to the main laboratory.

An entire platoon of Rhydon's and Golem's suddenly arrived in the room.

"Restrain him!" Nyx ordered and pointed at Hunter. The Pokémon, who were also Shadow Pokémon, rushed towards Hunter, who briefly stared at them with his blood red eyes. Then, he himself rushed forward, killing every Rhydon and Golem he passed until no one was left. He used a black version of the powerful grass-type attack Leaf Blade for his killing streaks. Soon, his leaves on his arms were covered in blood.

Luckily for Nyx, Hunter did not notice her, instead rushing out of the laboratory. Nyx stared at the Grovyle leaving. "If he is allowed to roam free, he'll kill everyone and everything" she thought to herself. "I must stop him" With that, she followed Hunter, leaving the laboratory empty. She passed by some dead scientists, who have presumably been killed by Hunter.

* * *

><p>Missy suddenly stopped in her tracks.<p>

"What's wrong?" Cloud asked her.

"Didn't you sense anything weird?" she asked.

"Weird? What do you mean?" Luna asked curiously.

"Nah, nevermind" Missy suddenly smiled and continued to walk towards the temple they were searching for, her friends walking beside her.

**Author's notes: That was pretty intense, wasn't it? Even I got Goosebumps while writing this. What is going to happen, now that Hunter is a killing machine? You'll see next chapter!**

**Peace out!**

**~ Shining4Charizard**


	13. A New Team Mate

**Author's notes: The number that everyone fears... it's now here! Prepare yourselves for chapter 13! *evil laughter***

**I'm kidding. Enjoy.**

**~ Shining4Charizard**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to say that again?**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 13: A New Team Mate**

"So, how long is it until we reach the temple of whatever?" Blaze asked with an annoyed tone in her voice.

It has been three days since the group had started to search for a solution to save Hunter. They were still inside a forest and there was nothing like a temple in sight.

"It's the Temple of Truth and Ideals" Cloud sighed and shook his head. "Man, she's so stupid" he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" the ears of the female fox Pokémon were incredibly sensitive. This only added to Cloud's problems.

"I said you're so dumb, you'd even mistake Gyarados for a Magikarp if you saw one!" Cloud snapped at her.

"Whaaaat?" Blaze asked, madly blushing. "Who'd ever be this stupid? Mistaking a Gyarados for a Magikarp? Man, you'd have to be a Riolu to be this dumb!"

Now Cloud had it. With a loud roar, he jumped toward the Vulpix and the two got into a close range all-out fight.

The others sighed simultaneously.

"Are they always like this?" Luna asked.

"Pretty much" Riv said annoyed. "HEY, CUT IT OUT NOW!"

Cloud and Blaze were not listening. They were too caught up in their battle for noticing anything around them. As one came to the other, they were heading straight for a river.

"Shouldn't we warn them?" Lava asked, somewhat worried.

"Why should we do that?" Luno asked, shrugging. "Maybe, it'll cool them off a little"

"Yeah, maybe" Luna hummed absent-mindedly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lance asked angrily as he felt Luna's hands stroking his shell. Missy burst out in laughter only a few moments later

"What's so funny?" the shell dragon asked, not being able to see what the white Grovyle just did to his shell.

"She just drew a very badly done portrait of Hunter on your shell" Luno replied, trying to stay calm, but the edges of his mouth were slightly turning up and the others could clearly see that he, too, was about to burst out in laughter.

"It's not bad, brother" Luna pouted. "That's called modern art"

"Same thing" now, the male Grovyle could no longer hold it. He rolled around on the floor, while holding his belly and laughing like a maniac. The others, also seeing what Luna did to Lance's shell, also started to laugh. Even Cloud and Blaze, who somehow managed to evade the river (though it had been close) laughed along with their friends.

"At least you have fun" Lance grumbled.

"Heeeey, don't be grumpy!" Missy said happily. "We don't make fun of you, right guys?" All nodded as if on cue. Lance still did not seem satisfied. Then his attention was suddenly drawn somewhere else.

"Hehehey!" he suddenly called out.

"Huh?!" the others stared into the direction Lance looked at and noticed a small and fragile-looking Glaceon walking past. It had longer ears and a longer tail than normal Glaceon and also the diamond-shaped fur spots on his back were darker and larger. His coat was also more luster than a normal Glaceon's.

"Check out that chick!" Cold said and walked towards the Glaceon. "Hey, baby. Lookin' for a ride?"

The Glaceon stared at him. "Are you mad or something?" it asked. Cold froze in shock. The Glaceon had a incredibly manly voice.

The others burst out in laughter again, while the Sneasel paled.

"How dare you mistaking me, Vincent, for a girl?!" the Glaceon got seriously angry.

"I-I'm sorry… I-I didn't know" Cold stammered. "It's just that… you do look like a girl and…"  
>"Shut. The hell. Up!" Vincent ordered.<p>

"Yes ma'am… I mean sir!" Cold quickly ran back to the others, hiding behind Riv for cover.

"I apologize for my friend there" the Absol said. "But you sure look beautiful"

"Oh… uh… thank you…" the male Glaceon blushed suddenly.

"Aww, he likes ya, Riv" Luna squealed and went towards Vincent, stroking his fur gently. "And he's soft like a pillow. Can I use you for a pillow?"

"No way!" Vincent jumped away from the female Grovyle, who laughed and climbed a tree.

"There she goes again…" Luno sighed.

"Huh?" Vincent asked.

"She's a bit hyperactive, apparently" Cloud said. "Nothing to worry about, though"

"Huh…" Vincent hummed slightly and looked at the Grovyle who pretended to be King Kong while climbing the tree, roaring on occasion in the hopes her friends would look at her.

"Anyway… what are you guys doing out here?" the male Glaceon looked at the group of Pokémon, which seemed to be an odd match to most eyes.

"We are headed towards the Temple of Truth and Ideals" Luno replied. "We think that it should be somewhere around here, but we don't really have a clue"

"And… what exactly do you want there?" Vincent asked.

"We are currently trying to save a friend of ours" Missy replied with a somewhat sad tone in her voice. "We think he is still captive inside of that Shadow Pokémon Lab"

"What?!" Vincent stared at the Eevee in shock. "What the heck were you doing there?"

"Luna, Missy, Lava, Heat and I were imprisoned in there along with Hunter, our friend" Luno explained. "We somehow made it out, but Hunter didn't. Now we are trying to find a way to save him"

"Hunter… who is this Pokémon?" Vincent asked. "What is he like"

"He is a very nice Pokémon" Missy answered. "He always cares about others more than himself"

"He is the best friend a Pokémon can wish for" Cloud added. "And one of the strongest Treecko I've seen in my entire life"

"I see…" Vincent said thoughtfully. "Do you need an ice type for your quest?"

"We have Cold, but we'd appreciate another one" Blaze said. "That would make another great sidekick for me, the awesome, amazing Blaze!"

"Why aren't you dead yet?" Cloud sighed and brought his palm to his face.

"Why aren't we all dead yet?" Riv corrected him.

"You're right about that" the Riolu agreed.

"So, Vincent" Blaze began to strike up a conversation. "Are you joining me now or what?"

"Fine…" the Glaceon agreed. "But it's just temporary for now. I have to make sure what you guys are really after"

"World peace" Missy replied silently. The Glaceon looked at her with a worried expression.

Two hours later, the friends had decided to take a break to relax their muscles and to sleep a little. After the past events, most of them needed their sleep.

For most of them, it was a nice place to stay. It had enough sun to make even Blaze happy and also had a river to wash up or bathe in.

After a long introducing session with Vincent, the Pokémon went to do their own activities, with Luno and Riv formulating battle plans in case Kyurem's army might attack them, and Missy, Lava, Heat and Blaze sunbathing. Cloud was training with Vincent, who, as they were told, only recently evolved into a Glaceon and Lance was trying to get rid of the paint Luna had applied to his shell. Cold scouted the area for spies, while Luna was tricking him into thinking there really were spies around by quickly walking behind him, humming some tunes from action movies, labeling them "suspicious noises numbers one through twelve". This greatly annoyed the Sneasel while it was fun to the Grovyle.

Unbeknownst to them, they indeed were being watched from a high tree branch. It was Vivi, the Victini, who was watching them.

"Found them" she thought happily. "But wait a second… isn't that Riv?" She looked at the Absol and indeed confirmed her as the dark-type Pokémon that was living along with her in Agathe Village. "Riv… that means we are enemies?" the victory Pokémon became sad. "I don't want to fight my best friend… Kyurem, you're horrible. If I could only leave him… wait! Why didn't I do this? I'm the strongest anyway! I'm a rare Pokémon, so that means I'm strong!" She puffed up her chest proudly. "Soon, I'm going down there and kick their butts! Yeah, that's exactly what I'll do… although…" She took another look at Riv and began doubting herself again. "Arrgh, focus, Vivi!" she screamed in her head.

"Are you spying again?" a feminine voice suddenly asked, greatly startling the mysterious rodent Pokémon. Vivi turned around to stare into two blue-green eyes and a bright smile, belonging to a feminine humanoid Pokémon about the height of a Treecko. It had a green sash wrapped around its waist and green hair, matching its eye colour. It seemed to be wearing a black dress and had a black microphone-like thing attached to its head. Its slender arms were playfully folded behind its head.

"What are you doing here, Melody?" Vivi asked the Pokémon.

The little humanoid Pokémon giggled. "Guess" she proposed, causing the Victini to groan.

"I don't want to play these games now, Melody" she said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to stay in your cell?"

"It was dark and boring in there" Melody complained. "I couldn't even sing or dance properly without getting yelled at by those stupid guards. So I slipped out" She giggled, rising into the air, twirling a little.

"How do I explain this to Kyurem?" she thought and imagined what the ice dragon would do to her. "He's going to send me to hell… when he's in a good mood!"

"Look who's in trouble" Melody teased.

"Shut up" Vivi groaned. "Just shut up, okay? I will let you run, if you do"

"Really?" Melody's eyes started to shine. "Oh, thank you. Now I'm free to go wherever I want!" She started to sing.

"Wait, you mean you planned this?!" the Victini's jaw dropped. The little humanoid Pokémon tricked her into letting her escape.

"Yes, of course" Melody seemed to be satisfied with herself.

"It's just not my day lately…" Vivi shook her head in frustration.

"What's wrong, Vivi?" Melody asked.

"I got yelled at by Kyurem, I am forced to fight my former best friend… now do the math!" Vivi yelled in frustration, wanting to slam her head into the branch she was sitting on.

"You don't have to fight your best friend if you don't want to" Melody suggested. "That just wouldn't make sense"

"You won't understand, Melody" Vivi sighed. "Kyurem has his way with me… I don't stand a chance… and if I ever were to say no… he'd kill me right away. He said so himself"  
>"What's so bad about this?" Melody asked. "When you die, you're dead. There's no pain in this. It only hurts a little and then - poof - the pain suddenly stops and you're in another world. That's all there is. It's not that threatening to me…"<p>

"If you put it that way…" Vivi had to agree to Melody's words. She had to admit that she was pretty down-to-earth with her words and usually right.

"That whole thing changes if something you care about is about to die" Melody added. "Then I would do anything to save that thing… or that someone…"

"True…" Vivi said absent-mindedly and stared at Riv once more. "Would I do the same for Riv…?"

"_Vivi? We'll be friends forever, right?"_

"_Yeah"_

Melody smiled at her. "You have had a change of heart, eh?" she asked in her thoughts. "One day, you'll join them, I know that"

A sudden sound from below made the two Pokémon stare down.

"What was that?" Vivi asked. "I'd better go" She vanished from sight, while Melody stayed in place, curious about what happened.

"What's the big idea?!" Luna asked angrily while kneeling next to her brother who had been knocked to the ground.

"Where are you?!" Blaze shouted. "Come out, so I can kick your butt!"

Cloud did not bash Blaze this time. He was too focused on spotting the aura of the one that had attacked Luno just now. "Whoever he is, he is incredibly fast" he thought.

"You want me to come and fight you?" a voice suddenly asked and from the shadows of some trees a dark grey Grovyle with black leaves and blood red eyes suddenly appeared. "Then show me your power…"

"No way…" Missy froze in shock. "That can't be true…" She shook her head in denial.

"Who is that guy?" Vincent asked.

Heat shook in fear. "Whoever he is" Lava growled and activated the flames on her head and on her tail. "He's scaring little Heat. I can't forgive this!"

**Author's notes: Who is this mysterious stranger? What is his ambition? Find out in the next chapter of 'The Adventures of Hunter'.**

**~ Shining4Charizard**


	14. Evolution of Bonds

**Author's notes: Hey, guys! Before final exam week starts tomorrow**

**CROWD: *a disappointed moan***

**I will present you with some more stuff from Hunter and his pals.**

**CROWD: YAAAAAYYYY! *applause***

**Thank you, thank you very much...**

**And sorry for not updating for so long, but Math has kept me from doing anything else as well… Damn you, Math!**

**Enjoy!**

**~Shining4Charizard**

**Disclaimer: I don't own... you know what? *BLEEP* it! I won't say it again!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 14: Evolution of Bonds**

The grey and black Grovyle got himself ready to fight and without a warning, Cloud, Blaze and Missy were on the ground.

Before he could attack them once more, Riv intercepted with the blade attached to her head.

"What is that strength?" she asked, greatly impressed by her enemy's prowess. The Grovyle strengthened his darkened Leaf Blade attack and pushed Riv back slowly, until her feet could not support her anymore and she was thrown to the ground. Just as the Grovyle attempted to finish her off, he was suddenly struck by a very powerful Iron Head attack delivered by Lance, followed by a Flamethrower from Lava and a Bullet Seed from Luna. Luno followed up with his own Leaf Blade, buying Cloud, Missy and Blaze the time to stand back up.

"NOBODY attacks me, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze and gets away with it!" Blaze roared and spit out a powerful flame that struck the Grovyle head on and threw him into a tree.

"Wow… that Fire Blast has some power" Cloud thought, impressed by the Vulpix. Maybe she was not just all talk after all? He smiled a little, then turned his attention back to the battle, his eyes starting to glow red while he charged up an Aura Sphere to counter whatever move the Grovyle might have used next. Indeed, the dark Pokémon jumped from his place, now enveloped in a deep purple aura of shadow energy. He smashed himself into Lava, knocking her unconscious, but was then struck by an Ice Beam from Vincent. Surprisingly, the attack did not do much damage, but still managed to freeze the grass-type.

"That shadowy aura seems to be protecting him" Luno suspected. "It's one of those Shadow Pokémon"

"They sure are powerful…" Riv amitted and stood up. "Where is Cold?"

"He's still out there looking for spies" Lance answered, feeling how rage started to pile up inside of him at the sight of his hurt friends. "This isn't good…" he thought. "My rage is going to get the best of me… I have to resist… the urge… to… DESTROY!" A loud dragon roar could be heard as the Shelgon was wrapped in a fiery aura and suddenly began to thrash around, hitting everything in his eyesight.

"Lance, what's wrong… owww!" Missy cried out as she was hit by the Outrage attack, immediately calming the Shelgon down.

"Oh no… I did it again… I lost myself…" he started to cry a little. "But… but I didn't want that to happen again…"

"LANCE!" the Shelgon could only turn around to see the Grovyle attacking him with a Dragon Claw, only to be tackled aside by Cold, who had just arrived.

"Now, the hero's here!" the Sneasel grinned.

The Grovyle grunted angrily, getting himself ready to battle again.

"Come on!" Cold taunted. "I'll take you on anytime!"

"Wait a moment, please!" Missy suddenly interrupted her friends.

"What's wrong, sidekick?" Blaze asked.

"Look closely… doesn't this Grovyle seem familiar?" Missy asked.

"And that fighting style…" Lance added, catching on to what the Eevee had said.

"Is that… Hunter?!" Cloud could not believe his own words, but somehow knew that Missy was right. "He still has his aura… although it's weak and everything else is black…"

"So we are too late?" Lava, who just regained consciousness, asked. "We can't save him anymore?"

"This is Hunter?" Vincent stared at the Grovyle in shock. "He looks nothing like you guys described him…"  
>"That's because they turned him into a Shadow Pokémon" Luno explained. "It must have been hard on him, getting his heart sealed like that…"<br>"What do you mean, brother?" Luna asked with a curious look on her face.

"Look at his body and eye colour…" Luno ordered. "Normal Shadow Pokémon usually retain their normal coloration. To make his coloration change this drastically… they must have done something to him that they didn't do to other Pokémon they transformed"

"Has this ever happened before?" Lance asked.

Luno nodded. "It has been passed down from times that long since have passed…" he started to explain. "The humans, who were merciless and evil, tried to make Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon to rule the world. In their madness, they created a Shadow Pokémon more powerful than any other had ever been. It was told that it's heart was sealed completely shut and couldn't be opened through normal means like going to the Sanctuary in Agathe Village or calling Celebi the legendary Time Travel Pokémon. Something similar must have happened to Hunter…"  
>"That means we can't save him?" Missy asked, desperately trying to hold back her tears.<p>

Luno shook his head. "The only choice we have…" the white Grovyle said and got into a battle stance. "We have to kill him… if we want to survive, that is"

Melody, who was watching all of this from above, brought her hands to her mouth. She did not imagine Kyurem was this cruel. "To seal a Pokémon's heart like that… if only I could help…" she thought. "But before I can, they'll have to calm him down a little first… otherwise my song can't reach him"

"Kill him?" the others stared at the white Grovyle in shock.

"Never!" Cloud called out. "I'll never kill my best friend!" Lance nodded eagerly.

Luna, Blaze, Cold, Missy, Lava, Heat and even Vincent agreed to the Riolu.

"Well… do you have any other options?"

"I do!" Missy suddenly said and started walking towards Hunter, who only stared at her, threateningly extending the leaves on his arms to black blades.

"Hunter… do you remember me?" the Eevee asked, kindly smiling at the Grovyle. "It's me, Missy. You know? The Eevee that saved you and that you saved, too"

"You… are…?" Hunter suddenly asked.

"_Missy…" Hunter slowly opened his eyes. He was surrounded by darkness, but still able to see the Eevee approaching him and his friends standing behind her. "And the others… what's happening?"_

_The darkness started to lift a little._

A stinging pain went through Hunter's body and he fell to the ground, holding his arm in pain. "Hunter!" Missy called out to him, rushing to his side. Her friends followed her quickly to prevent her from putting herself in grave danger.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Cloud called out to him. "Do you hear me?!"

"_Cloud? Cloud! I'm here!" Hunter called out to the Riolu, who was standing beside him._

"Hey, Hunter!" Lance shouted. "Get a grip! You can beat the darkness inside of you! Believe in yourself, alright?! Whatever has happened in your past that causes you pain, you'll have to overcome it and go on! What you are doing certainly isn't the right conclusion!"

"_Lance… you…"_

"_He's wrong" the voice from when he was becoming a Shadow Pokémon suddenly said to him. "You're making a mistake if you think you will be able to actually overcome your past! It has captured you… it controls you. The darkness you're trapped in is the best proof for that!"_

"_Shut up…" Hunter suddenly said. "Seeing my friends before me… and thinking back to what Chikorita begged me to do… this is NOT what she would have wanted me to do! I let myself be fooled by your attempts to wrap me into the darkness, but I'll not do that any longer, you hear me?!"_

"_Heh… fool…" the voice said mockingly. "The loss of those most important to you has left you with a black hole where your heart was supposed to be. Do you think you can let go of that now? Besides… there is no way your "friends" can purify you, un-seal your heart… that just isn't possible!"_

"_Then I'll do it myself…" Hunter said._

"_You do realize that this might cost you your life, right?"  
>"I couldn't care less about that…"<em>

Hunter was suddenly wrapped in a dark aura gain.

"Everyone!" Luno shouted "get away from him!"

"Damn, we actually managed to calm him down a little and then this happens…" Lance growled in frustration.

"We must find a way to help him defeat the darkness" Riv suggested. "I mean, just look at him. He's clearly struggling to break free. I can feel that"

"Yeah, me too" Missy agreed. "But what can we do? How are we able to help?"

"I don't really know…" Cloud admitted sadly.

"Hunter, please… if you would just come to your senses…" Missy started crying.

"Not even I, the awesome, amazing Blaze know what to do at this point" the Vulpix said.

Hunter led out a deafening and strong roar, lunging at the discussing group of Pokémon, but he somehow managed to stop himself before harming any of them. "I… won't let you…" he breathed and fell to his knees, a dark aura raging around him.

"This is a fight he needs to duke out by himself" Cloud commented, but he was not pleased with this. The inability to save a friend angered him. Lance was also angry at himself and his inability to help. Riv strongly believed in Hunter that he could win his struggle, as did most of the others. Missy on the other hand did not want to accept this and rushed toward the dark Grovyle, calling his name repeatedly.  
>"Sidekick, come back!" Blaze shouted, but the Eevee did not listen. She only had one thing she wanted to do. She wanted to be there for a friend. While running, her body started to glow. When she reached Hunter, she hugged him, despite the latter violently lashing out at her. "Stop, Hunter…", she breathed while changing her form. Her fur turned light violet, the fur around her neck disappeared, her entire figure became more slender and cat-like and her now slender tail split up in two at the end. A red jewel also appeared on her forehead. She had evolved into Espeon. "Please… stop…", she begged him, while still holding him tightly. "You're hurting your friends". "My… friends…", Hunter murmured as the dark aura around him started to fade and his coloration returned to the normal green with a pink belly and bright yellow eyes.<p>

"Missy?" he asked. "Hunter? You're back!" at that statement, everyone gathered around the Grovyle and smiled at him.

Melody, who watched the scene, smiled. "They didn't need me, huh?" she asked herself and disappeared.

Everyone Hunter did not know introduced him- or herself to him and they also told him what happened since they split up. Of course, Blaze was the one to place herself in the spotlight, saying she drove Kyurem off on her own, earning angry looks from Cloud.

**Author's notes: Whew, this sure took long to complete since I had to do some serious studying for the finals next week. I hope you like the chapter and I also hope you can give me some tips how to improve it, since I'm not very happy with the way it turned out. Well anyway, this is it for this time, so peace out, my friends!**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	15. The Darkness' Secret

**Author's notes: Whew, finally the finals are over and I get to write more. So, get ready for a new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Still don't and probably never will.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 15: The Darkness' Secret**

On a volcanic island surrounded by wild waves and merciless winds, Kyurem arrived in the form of BlackKyurem, only to transform back upon landing on a platform next to one of the islands many spear-like peaks. Lava was flowing from a huge volcanic crater on the northern side of the island into the sea, destined to forever fight against the raging sea in a battle of the elements. The pitch-black spear peaks of the island and the storm surrounding it, occasional lightning bolts flashing in-between the dark-grey to black mass of clouds.

The platform Kyurem was standing on was linked to a huge metallic orb, seemingly floating above said volcanic crater, by a seemingly shaky, metallic, rusty bridge. Every step Kyurem took shook the bridge so hard that one had to think the metal cords supporting it where about to rip apart and throw Kyurem into the hellish abyss below him. But the ice dragon did not mind the heat nor the danger of the bridge tearing apart, since he could just transform into BlackKyurem and take flight to escape the inevitable.

Giving no further thought to the matter, Kyurem crossed the bridge and entered the huge metallic orb that floated over the center of the crater, possessing almost the same diameter.

Inside, five strong dragon Pokémon where waiting for him. These five where the strongest Pokémon in the entire Dragon Empire, each possessing a title as a testament to their power. The first was Charmer, the Black Phantom, a black Charizard and the city chief of Pyrite Town after his servants, which consisted mainly of Mightyena and Houndoom, took it over. He had the strongest long-range attacks in the group. The second was Drake, the Reaper, a very powerful, unusually dark green coloured Dragonite possessing the highest intelligence of the group. Next to him was Grim, the Destroyer, a green Salamence with orange wings instead of being turquoise with red wings. He had a scar over his left eye and possessed the most destructive personality of the five. He enjoyed the suffering of his enemies. Fourth was Shark, the Bloody, a slightly darker blue Garchomp who possessed the highest speed, which he used to skewer his opponents until there was nothing left of them in a blink of an eye, usually leaving a blood bath. Last of the group was Fang, the Rock Breaker, a black Haxorus, whose jaws where powerful enough to crush rocks. As such, he boasted of having the strongest physical power of the group.

"You called us here, Your Majesty?" Drake asked.

"It's about the Light Stone, isn't it?" Fang guessed.

"Indeed, it is" Kyurem replied. "My most faithful servants… did you find its location yet?"

"No" Shark replied.

"But we have a clue" Charmer spoke up.

"And what would that be?" Kyurem asked.

"I had a servant of mine watch over 'you know who'" Charmer said. "And she is currently in pursuit of them. Apparently, they are headed for the Temple of Truth and Ideals"

"So capturing that Meloetta and bribing Vivi with it was a good plan after all" Grim grunted. "Here's your damn Pokédollar, Drake". He handed the Dragonite a Pokédollar, who took it while smiling gleefully.

"Enough fooling around" Kyurem growled. "Grim, you're going to destroy them as soon as they reach the temple. Can I count on you?"

"Yes, my lord" the Salamence bowed his head slightly and went to fulfill his task. The others followed him to continue to conquer Orre. As soon as they were gone, he went to a hidden elevator and used it to reach a hidden upper floor, almost looking like an arena of some sort. A sinister, orange glowing circle surrounded the center area, where a huge, black crystal was floating, emitting an ominous purple glow. Kyurem went towards the crystal, which was almost twice his own size. "Once I get my hands on the ultimate power of darkness, there is nothing that can stop me…" he thought to himself. "Combine that with the Dark Stone and the Light Stone and thus the power of Reshiram and Zekrom, I will be the most powerful being in the universe". He smirked under his icy mask and turned away. Suddenly, a stinging pain went through his body, causing him to collapse.

"_You overestimate yourself_"

"Who… was that?" Kyurem asked, confused, as he stood back up. He looked around the room, but he could not see anything, aside from the huge black crystal. Kyurem growled a little, then he left the room.

…

"So, basically, the only way to beat Kyurem is by awakening Reshiram" Hunter concluded from the things the others had told him. "Is that right"

"Absolutely" Cold nodded. "It's true, you are smart"

"I'm so lucky to have you as a sidekick!" Blaze sighed. "Well, I don't really needed that luck, because I am the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!"

Everyone besides Hunter, who did not quite catch what was going on sighed.

"She's back, folks" Luna said. Luno agreed to his sister. Heat and Lava were standing idly by, not quite knowing what they should do about their situation. Cloud on the other hand was close to try and kill Blaze for good.

"Well? Shall we get going, then?" Missy suggested happily. "I don't see why not", Vincent said.

With this, the group started heading to the Temple of Truth and Ideals. On the way, they were all chatting with one another to get to know each other better. During this time, Vincent developed an interest in Missy, who did not notice this. The male Glaceon tried to walk as close to her as possible, cheeks flaring red.

"Why is she blushing?" Missy asked curiously. "Actually, I'm a guy" Vincent corrected, blushing even harder. "Are you catching a fever or something?" Missy asked with a worried expression. "That is not good. As an ice-type, you have to calm yourself and literally cool off" The others started laughing, while Vincent's blush strengthened. The young Espeon on the other hand gave everyone a questioning look on why they were laughing. "Missy, you are a funny sidekick!" Blaze said in-between fits of laughing. "I am not your…" Missy started, but Blaze silenced her with a tail. "Silence, sidekick! Nobody besides me ever talks back to the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!"

"And just when you think, our group could not get any weirder…" Cloud shook his head and sighed.

"Well, we have to put up with it as long as we share the same goal" Lance said and looked around. "We should be leaving the forest soon"

"I'm tired" Heat whispered. Lava stopped and picked her little brother up.

"You sure do love your brother, huh?" Luna asked with her usual overly curious expression. Lava nodded. "He is the only family I have left since our parents were made into Shadow Pokémon" she replied. "I have to take good care of him. But I'm sure you understand. What about your brother, Luna?"

"Well, I love my brother, too" Luna answered, her attention slowly drawing away from the subject at hand. "But sometimes, he just— hey, Cloud, do you have a minute?!" She walked over to the Riolu and started chatting with him. Lava looked after her, confusion written all over her face, partially due to Luna drawing on her while they were resting. She wrote "CONFUSION" on Lava's face, while she was asleep and could not notice it.

"Hunter! Sweetie!" Luna cried and hugged Hunter so tightly and abruptly that the latter almost toppled over.

"Hey, what are you doing, Luna?!" he asked with a shocked expression.

"Don't you worry, my sweet" Luna squealed happily. "Next time, I'll prevent those meanies from catching you again. Count on me!"

"Luna, stop that" her brother snapped at her. "He already has enough problems on him!"

Fearing an outburst from her brother, Luna let go of Hunter, who threw Luno a thankful look, and turned her attention towards the trees surrounding them.

"Lively, isn't it?" Cold said with a smile. Riv nodded in agreement.

"What are you up to, anyway?" the Absol suddenly asked.

"Hey, where did that distrust come from?" Cold was shocked to see Riv seemingly not trusting him.

"It's not that I don't trust you" Riv defended herself. "It's just that you said you were a wanderer. So why do you hang out with us?"

"Well, I like to explore the world. And Kyurem is out to destroy the world as we know it. No world means no exploring, right? And if Hunter is out to kill Kyurem, so that I can have a world to explore again, then I'll do everything in my power to help out"

"Quite thoughtful" Riv nodded, impressed by Cold's statement. "Ever since the Princess died, I fell kind of… misplaced here, you know? I feel like I am not needed here anymore"

"That's not right at all" Hunter said. "I heard your battle prowess saved the others countless times and your calm demeanor and intelligence are a huge asset to have. Besides, who else is going to stop Cloud and Blaze from fighting all the time?"

"Hunter…" Riv was left speechless.

"Every single one of you here is my friend" Hunter said. "I need you all by my side. Without you all, I would not be here. I almost gave up all hope and fell into the darkness. I would have stayed there, if you weren't kind enough to help me"

"Which gets me to a topic I don't quite get yet" Cold said. "When we tried to purify you, Missy suddenly evolved into an Espeon… I can't really imagine how exactly that was possible"

Hunter wanted to reply something, but Luna took him down again, again hugging and cuddling him like a little girl would do to a plushy she just was presented with by her parents.

"Poor guy" Cold chuckled a bit. "Yeah" Riv agreed.

"But still, that's been bothering me" Cold said, looking at Missy, who was still being something close to stalked by Vincent, whose blush turned from bright red to deep crimson by the minute.

"How exactly does an Eevee evolve anyway?" Riv asked.

"Eevee have many different kinds of evolution" Luno stated. "They can evolve to Vaporeon through a Water Stone, to Jolteon through a Thunder Stone, to Flareon through a Fire Stone, to Leafeon while battling in a forest, to Glaceon while battling in a snowy field or icy cavern and then there's that newly discovered evolution called Sylveon, but nobody knows what kind of method is used by an Eevee to become Sylveon"

"Being female, for one" Cold said. "Because a male Sylveon would just be… kinda gay"

Riv nodded in agreement. "But then again" she added. "None of the Eeveelutions are very masculine to begin with"

"Which is why Vincent gets mistaken for a girl a lot" Cold finished. "But we still haven't answered my question yet!"

"I was coming to that" Luno said while crossing his arms over his chest. "Then there's two stages that an Eevee can only reach through special means. These two are Espeon and Umbreon. After trainers and humans disappeared completely from this world, it was thought to be impossible for an Eevee to become Espeon or Umbreon, but still did some achieve it. How it worked remains a mystery to all, but there is one quite plausible theory". He looked at Missy, who was chatting with Hunter, her electric blue eyes shining with glee and happiness.

"And that would be…?" Cold urged the white Grovyle to continue.

"If the Eevee realizes it has fallen in love with another Pokémon, it will become Espeon or Umbreon, depending on the daytime" Luno finished his explanation. "And it also depends on if that Pokémon is near or not. This theory is derived from the fact that back when humans were still around, they would try and force their Eevee to 'love' them to make them become Espeon or Umbreon".

"Wait, if Missy evolved into an Espeon while having contact with Hunter…" Cold came to a sudden realization.

"She must be in love with him, yes" Luno nodded matter-of-factly. "It's just a theory, though. I myself don't really care about it all, but yeah… there you go"

Cold and Riv looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Unfortunately for Hunter and Missy, Blaze overheard the conversation. She grinned evilly, thinking about a variation of her usual demeanor. She heard that friends would tease one another when it came to love, so she wanted to try it as well.

"Hunter and Missy, sitting in a tree!" she suddenly started to sing.

"What?!" both Pokémon turned around. "What do you mean, Blaze?" Missy asked, blushing madly. Hunter just seemed surprised. Blaze was still grinning sheepishly at them. "Oh, for the love of…" Cloud face-palmed. "Here she goes again"

Luckily for all of them, a Slugma suddenly entered the scene, having literally come out of nowhere.  
>"I wouldn't continue on this path if I were you" he suggested.<p>

"Devin! It's you!" Missy exclaimed. "That ninja guy that helped us out"

Devin looked at Hunter. "A very strong opponent is waiting up ahead" he said. "He will kill you all, if you don't follow my advice".

"Who exactly is waiting?" Lance asked.

"Someone you should know" Devin said mysteriously.

"What? Hey, don't fool around!" Lance let out a string of flames from between the plates that make up his shell.

Devin ignored it and continued. "It is Grim, the Destroyer, of the five Great Dragon Lords. If you run into him as you are now, this will be the end for you. Just sayin'". He disappeared on the spot.

"Grim, the Destroyer…" Hunter murmured. "You sound like you know him" Missy stated.

"I heard of his prowess before…" Hunter replied. "He is one of the strongest Pokémon the Dragon Empire has to offer. I guess, we have to change our route. Everyone, we stop here and formulate another plan".

Everyone else agreed, aside from Lance, who suddenly had a stern look on his barely visible face. "I say we continue on this route" he said. "What?!" Cloud asked, shocked. "You heard that Slugma! One of the Five Great Dragon Lords is waiting up ahead! Do you want to get us all killed?!" "No, that's not it" Lance shook his head. "If it was anybody else, I'd vote for a different route immediately… but it is Grim, the Destroyer we have to face. I have a score to settle with that guy"

"Score?" Hunter asked. "What kind of score?"

"I'm sorry, but I can not tell you" Lance replied. "Let me go ahead! I'll distract him while you go and look for the temple"

"That would indeed be the wisest decision" Luno agreed. "But since it's one of the Five Great Dragon Lords, you should at least take two of us with you"

"No" Lance said with fierce determination in his voice. "I'll take this one alone. Please, Hunter! Trust me!"

"Alright, Lance" Hunter finally said. "I trust you. But you have to promise me that when things get too rough, you'll retreat immediately and hide! Don't kill yourself out there"

"You'll see, I won't" Lance assured him. "Okay then" Hunter smiled, having faith in one of his best friends. He and the others went deeper into the forest as Lance was walking ahead alone, ready to face his toughest challenge yet.

**Author's notes: Well, it ends here. Next time, there will be a big battle between Lance and Grim, the Destroyer, of the Five Great Dragon Lords. So stay tuned!**

**Oh yeah, on a side note: To all you guys who submitted some bad guys: Please tell me if you want them to become good somewhere through this story. Otherwise, like all baddies tend to do, they'll die (maybe I should have written this a little bit sooner, because one of the bad guys you submitted was killed already… uuhh… sorry…)**

**Peace out!**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	16. The Heart of a Dragon

**Author's notes: Alright, we are about to reach another climatic battle! Look forward to Lance VS. Grim. Yaaay. *Dead silence* Uuhh… anyway. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Warning: There's minor swearing here.**

**Disclaimer: *sigh* I do not own Pokémon and yada yada yada…**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 16: The Heart of a Dragon**

Lance went along the muddy way that led through what seemed to be an alley. Left and right of him were trees lined up so carefully that one could suspect them growing here was not because of natural causes.

Lance felt himself tense up. Hearing about his next opponent has caused him to build up his rage to a point where it was difficult to control it. He felt every single cell in his body acting up, and a change seemed to go through the Shelgon who could barely contain himself. He had to meet his opponent straight on. There was no way around it. No matter how hard he would try to avoid it. He promised Hunter he would fight and as much as he knew the now Grovyle would never let him down, as much did he not want to let Hunter down. Gritting his teeth, he went forward until he arrived at a circular clearing that had the form of a crater. In the middle of that same crater, he could spot a green Salamence with a scar over his left eye. Just seeing the Salamence was making him mad. "YOU!" he growled at it and immediately attacked with a powerful Iron Head. The Salamence noticed the Shelgon rushing towards him and dodged the assault by flying upwards. "Futile" he growled. "Apparently, you have no idea, who you are dealing with. I am Grim, the Destroyer, of the Five Great Dragon Lords"

"You're the one who forgot who he is dealing with" Lance shouted, blind with rage.

"Your voice… can it be?" Grim seemed somewhat surprised. "No, that's impossible. He would already be dead by now. Anyway… where's the rest of your group"

"They left" Lance answered. "I will take you on alone, you bastard!" He prepared himself for another attack, but Grim was faster. The Shelgon could not do anything as the mighty Dragon Claw struck him. Due to his round form, he was able to get up immediately.

"You don't even recognize me, do you?" Lance growled angrily, his eyes blood-shot. "But then again, you never cared anyway!" He attacked Grim another time with Iron Head, but was pushed back again by the latter's Dragon Claw. He was smashed through a rock which was pulverized by the impact. Barely able to stand up, Lance's temper got the better of him. A crimson aura surrounded him and he, despite having his shell partially cracked, rushed at his opponent another time.

"You're letting your anger control you?" the Salamence shook his head in disapproval. "How pitiful…" He flew up and launced a stream of flames towards Lance, who did not dodge the attack, but instead took it head on. He was thrown back again, but managed to roll over midair to land safely on his feet. He was panting already, several parts of his shell slowly coming off. Grim landed in front of him. "For a dragon… you're pathetic" he muttered. "Your attacks lack impact. Sure, they are powerful, but you attack too aimlessly"

"Don't you dare lecturing me!" Lance roared and attacked Grim again, this time with more force backing him up. "You Arceus-damned bastard!"

Grim merely smirked as the Shelgon came towards him. "I'll show you the difference between us" he said and lifted himself up in the air. Then, he surrounded himself in a light-blue orb of psychic energy and effortlessly countered Lance's Outrage with his own Zen-Headbutt.

The Shelgon was smashed into the ground, creating a small crater. His shell was breaking away and revealed a draconic figure underneath. It had large, crimson red wings and a dark turquoise body. The dragon stood up and roared loudly.

"I wonder if Lance is okay…" Cloud said and looked behind him, seemingly worried.

"I'm sure he'll do fine" Riv assured him. "Or else Hunter wouldn't let him go alone, right Hunter?"

"True" the Grovyle said. "How much further until we reach the temple?"

"We should arrive there any second now" Vincent answered.

"Right, thanks" Hunter said approvingly. "Lance… please be alright…" he added in his thoughts.

"He evolved?!" Grim asked. "But still… he's no match for me".

"That's what you think!" Lance exclaimed. "I'll prove you otherwise. Do you know just how long I've had to wait for this moment? I couldn't contain myself when I heard you would be our next challenge. I didn't just volunteer to take you on alone because I wanted to protect my friends… I volunteered because I didn't want to miss the chance to finally kill the one who killed my mother in cold blood! Now, I'll take revenge for her and the life you've taken away from us!"

"I get it now" Grim said bitterly. "So you really are him… Frankly, I'm surprised you've made it this far… Lance"

"Just hearing you say this name makes me mad" the younger Salamence roared. "Back when I was younger, I'd always thrive for your attention, wanting you to be proud of me…" Tears welled up in his eyes. "I wanted to become a strong warrior like you. I wanted to be a Dragon Lord like you… but then, the former Dragon Emperor was murdered by Kyurem and you didn't resist! You just obeyed his every order! Even when he ordered you to slaughter your family, you just did it! You never regretted it, did you?! I've grown to hate you so much over these past years. Thanks to Hunter and the others… I've finally found the strength and will to pay you back for what you did. Prepare yourself… dad!"

"_It's hot out here!" a young Bagon complained. The two dragon-types were standing on a rocky platform above the vast desert that was the Orre region. Next to the young Bagon was a very powerful green Salamence with a scar over his left eye. He was smiling contently at the Bagon next to him, showing him the world outside of their cave for the first time._

"_Aside from that, how do you like it?" he asked._

"_Hmm… I don't really know yet" the young Bagon replied and looked around. "Dad, what is that?" He pointed towards the sun._

"_That, my son, is the sun" the Salamence replied. _

"_The sun?!"_

"_It is the bright star that makes living on this planet possible. Without it, the world and any creature living in it would wither and die… that's why even though it vanishes for a time, it always comes back. There'll never be something as total darkness"_

"_I don't get it" the young Bagon pouted and sat down. The Salamence laughed at that statement. "Someday, you will for sure" he said and looked out at the desert._

"_Dad, will you be leaving soon?" the Bagon suddenly asked with a sad look on his face._

_The Salamence looked down and he nodded. "Yes. As one of the Five Dragon Lords, I have to fulfill my duties towards the Dragon Emperor"._

"_That's stupid" Bagon cried. "That means you won't be around for a long time!"_

"_I'm sorry, Lance" the Salamence smiled at his son. "But as Grim of the Five Dragon Lords I don't have another choice. I'll be back with you and your mother as soon as I can"_

"_I wanna be a Dragon Lord too" Lance said. "That way, I'll be able to always be together with you"_

"_You do have what it takes" Grim stated. "You dragon heart is as pure as it could be. I think… one day, you'll surpass even me"_

"_You think?" Lance smiled brightly. "Thank you, dad" Grim smiled again._

The two Salamence were staring each other down. Each one seemed to be ready to launch their next attack on their foe.

Lance was the first one to make a move. He lifted himself up in the air and charged up a powerful Flamethrower. He launched it at Grim, who dodged and retaliated with Dragon Claw. Lance used his own Dragon Claw to block Grim's attack. To the surprise of both, Lance's plan worked out. But Grim was far from giving up. He launched a Dragon Pulse at Lance, hitting him from point blank range. The younger Salamence was thrown into the ground. "That's exactly what I meant" Grim said, seemingly disappointed. "You didn't surpass me after all…"

"Stop spouting that nonsense" Lance growled angrily. "You don't have any right to pretend that you are my father anymore!" He roared loudly. Suddenly, several portals opened up in the sky, portals behind which the outer space could be seen.

"This is…" Grim stared up at the portals. "How can this be? This boy… he only just evolved and learned an attack like that? Hmph… I guess… I underestimated him"

"THIS IS THE END! DIE!" Lance roared at the top of his lungs as large meteors began falling from the portals, heading towards Grim, who could only stare in awe as one meteor after another struck him.

As the meteors hit the ground, they created massive explosions which shook the entire area.

As the attack ended, the portals closed up and both Salamence were on the ground. Grim was motionlessly lying there, whereas Lance still stood, heavily panting and blood running from his mouth. "I did it…" he huffed. "I really did it… mom…" He walked over to Grim's body, only to find out that the green Salamence was still alive. Although his wings were completely crushed, as was the rest of his body, he was still alive.

"Y… you…" he panted as he looked at Lance with one eye.

"That is your punishment" Lance said coldly. "Now, I'll let you suffer the way you let me…"

"I see…" Grim smiled. "I guess… I deserved just that. Being killed by my own son… who would have thought? But still… I'm kinda proud"

"What?" Lance asked, shocked.

"Your dragon heart was pure enough to use the ultimate dragon attack… the Draco Meteor" Grim explained. "None of the Dragon Lords have achieved that up until now. They say that only dragons with a clear vision of the future can use that attack. For that, they need unwavering courage… something only a pure dragon heart can deliver… I'm glad… that my prediction came true after all… guess me turning evil… wasn't so useless after all…"

"Don't say that" Lance shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "Don't try to make me forgive you!"

"Who said I was trying to?" Grim asked, smile still present. "I'm not going to ask for forgiveness… I know that it is far too late for that now. But just this once in my life… I want to be a proud dragon… and a proud father… I'm glad, Lance… I really am…"

"Father…" Lance breathed, but Grim was not replying anymore. He was dead. Lance could not control his emotions. Memories of the father he treasured and sought after returned to his head as tears started streaming down his face. He did not want this, but his heart thought otherwise.

…

"Heh, so that Grim was taken out?" Fang chuckled.

"It seems so" Shark nodded.

"It appears his own son killed him" Drake added. "Ironic, isn't it?"

Charmer nodded. "Being killed by the person you cherish the most… I don't think there is any better way to die"

"What are you saying?" Fang asked, seemingly confused.

"Forget it" the Charizard grunted. "Let's report this to Kyurem"

"Ugh, fine" Fang grunted and the four remaining Dragon Lords, who had been watching the fight the entire time, returned to their headquarters on the stormy island.

**Author's notes: And a villain bites the dust. Well? How did you like this chapter? Write your opinion if you want to let me know. And if you like, you can also write down some tips how I can improve my storytelling. Thank you in advance and until next time!  
><strong>

**- Shining4Charizard**


	17. Determination

**Author's notes: Hey, guys! I know it's been a while, but I hope you haven't forgotten about this story yet. I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: *Sigh* Yeah... You know the drill.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 17: Determination**

Hunter and his group arrived in the deeper parts of the forest they went into as part of the plan to let Lance take on Grim by himself. The sun was already setting as they decided to rest up and continue their search for the Temple of Truth and Ideals on the following day. Their resting place was located on a steep cliff which offered a good look around on the surrounding area. The thick forest was behind them and Cold was constantly keeping watch for possible assaults of Kyurem or his cronies. Lava and Heat set up a camp fire and Cloud was searching for food in the woods. Luna and Luno were sleeping on trees, the others were resting as well.

„I wonder if Lance is okay" Hunter said while looking back the way they came.

„He is, I'm sure" Blaze said. „He seemed strong to me. Of course not as strong as I am, but still..."

„Wow, a compliment from you?" Missy asked, smiling. „That's something"

„Isn't it?" Blaze grinned at her friend.

Hunter just sighed, not convinced about what Blaze said before. "He's going all alone against one of the Five Great Dragon Lords" he said. "They are the strongest soldiers in the Dragon Empire. No one can match their power…"

Blaze and Missy looked at each other with worried expressions, then back at Hunter. "He said he's going to be fine" Missy smiled brightly in an attempt to cheer Hunter up. "You think he'd be happy if you doubt him? I mean, he's your brother in arms, isn't he?"

"True" the Grovyle nodded and looked into the evening sky. "He won't go down that easily"

"It's quite understandable that he's worried" Riv said. "Everyone is worried about their friends, right?"

"Right" Blaze and Missy agreed.

…

"Grim has fallen?" Kyurem asked angrily.

"It seems so" Charmer reported. "The last thing we saw was a Draco Meteor striking him. It was his own son that killed him"

"Oh, the irony" Kyurem grinned.

"That just shows that we let them escape for too long" Drake said. "We have to kill them before they reach their destination. If they find the Light Stone before we do, we have serious problems"

"No… let them find it for us" Kyurem said. "And when they do wake Reshiram, I'll just absorb her like I did with Zekrom… then, my power will be great enough to use the Shadow Crystal. With that, I shall rule everything!"

The four remaining Dragon Lords looked at each other with mixed expressions.

"No, even better…" Kyurem mumbled. "We'll head there ourselves. I can't wait until my plan is fulfilled. I will take the Light Stone from the temple, while you keep their group occupied"

"If the Light Stone really is in that temple" Drake added. "From what I heard, it is but a saying that both the Light and the Dark Stone can be found there. And, mylord, you found the Dark Stone someplace other than the Temple of Truth and Ideals"

"Even if the stone is not there" Kyurem roared. "We will get rid of Hunter and his friends. They have been a thorn in my side for far too long. Even making Hunter a Shadow Pokémon did not work in our favor"

"Y-you made him a Shadow Pokémon?!" Charmer asked, seemingly upset by this.  
>"What are you mad about, Black Phantom?" Fang asked back. "Creating an army of Shadow Pokémon is the one way to rule the world. Your emperor's decision is final. Deal with it"<p>

"I know" the black Charizard bowed his head in apology.

"But I do wonder" Shark suddenly spoke up. "This tiny group of Pokémon has done nothing but run away. How can they be such a hindrance to our plans?"

"I don't know myself" Kyurem answered. "And I don't really care, either. All that counts right now is that we destroy them for good"

"Yes, sir!"

…

It was late in the evening when everyone gathered around the fire.

"What do we do from here on out?" Cold asked. "I saw lots of Dragon Empire soldiers down in the valley not too far from here. Apparently, they are heading in the direction of the Temple of Truth and Ideals"

"That's our goal" Vincent commented, seemingly nervous. He looked at Hunter, who looked at the ground below him.

"I'm tired of running away this whole time to search for a faint light of hope that might not even exist" he suddenly spoke up, shocking everyone greatly. "We can't defeat Kyurem if we keep on running away. That's why – and I know it sounds reckless – this time, we'll go straight for them! We won't run away anymore… at least I won't. If any of you feel that this plan is too dangerous, I'll personally take you someplace safe. I'm not willing to force any one of you to fight with me. I just… wanted you to know what I have decided. But you guys should follow your own paths, so…"

"It's okay, Hunter" Cloud said with a smile. "We know. You don't have to explain everything. I'll follow you until the end"

"Me too" Riv said with a nod. "I trust you and your ability to keep us safe"

"Count me in as well" Vincent said. "I have known you guys for only a short time, but I still think that we can win, if we stick together"

"I will fight, too" Heat said with determination in his voice that shocked everyone, even himself. "I- I mean if I'm not in the way or anything…"

"Then I will fight as well" Lava said. "I have to protect my brother"

"We'll fight, too!" Luna squealed. "Right, Luno?" The male white Grovyle just nodded silently.

"I'll go as well!" Blaze exclaimed proudly. "I'LL be the one to kick Kyurem's butt. For I am the Awesome, Amazing Blaze!"

"Of course you are…" Cloud sighed with annoyance, but Blaze chose to ignore him.

"What about you, sidekick Missy?" she asked her friend, who was silent the entire time. "Will you come with us?"

"Um… I don't know, to be honest" she looked away from everyone, so they could not see her face.

"Why?" Blaze tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Only you won't participate in our battle? What sense does that make? Haven't you been with us to fight Kyurem and his losers?"

"Let her" Hunter said quietly. "It's her choice" He looked at the Espeon with a sad expression on his face, while remembering what had happened when she first laid eyes on Kyurem in The Under.

"How can you be so understanding towards such a coward?" Blaze sighed while shaking her head. "Anyhow, I'm going to sleep now. Wake me tomorrow morning, sidekicks"

"Who's up for night watch?" Cold asked, but he earned nothing but silence. Everyone was tired and he himself had to admit that fatigue ate away at him as well.

"I'll do it" Hunter said. "You all can go to sleep. I'll see that no harm comes to us during the night"

As everybody wished each other a good and silent night and searched for places in the vicinity to sleep, Hunter said down in front of a tree on the steep cliff, facing the vast forest below it and the wide night sky above him. Stars were starting to show up in the sky, dotting it with white twinkling points of light.

"Say… Hunter?" a voice suddenly asked him. Hunter turned to see Missy standing next to him.

"Oh, it's you" the Grovyle said with a sigh of relief. "What are you doing? Why are you still up?"

"There has been a lot going through my head lately" Missy said and sat down next to Hunter. "I was just thinking a lot of things over and that kept me from sleeping"

"Like the fact you don't want to fight with us?" Hunter asked. The Espeon just nodded and looked at Hunter with almost pleading eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you" he said smiling. "It's only understandable that you don't want to risk your life in a potentially futile battle. I won't even ask you why you answered the way you did"

"That's very kind of you, Hunter" Missy said softly, words coming out only as a whisper. "I didn't know you could be so… caring"

Hunter stared at Missy for a moment, pondering on what just came out of her mouth. Then he smiled and pushed it away.

"Missy, there's something I've been meaning to ask you" Hunter started, tone serious.

"What is it?"

"Why did you faint when you saw Kyurem when we were in The Under?"

Missy was visibly shocked by Hunters question and looked at her feet, then at the sky. "It was almost six years ago. My parents and I were traveling the world when we hiked through a huge mountain range in Sinnoh. There was a glacier and my daddy, an Umbreon, suggested not to cross it, but because of me, we did it anyway… as you might know, I'm quite the persistent type… when we were in the middle of the glacier, a huge snow storm suddenly struck us and Kyurem appeared right in front of us. And then…" Missy started sobbing. "It was all… happening so fast… huge icicles struck them… and they fell… they fell down a rift in the glacier… I… I…" Missy was unable to take it anymore. Too long had she held back the tears and hid them behind smiles and jokes. But bringing her parents' death back into her memory, she broke down immediately. She was crying uncontrollably, tears flowed from her electric blue eyes over her cheeks and to the ground. Hunter was sitting next to her, unsure of what he should do, when he remembered what he did when Chikorita was crying. Hesitating, but composed, he embraced the crying Espeon and softly patted her back. "It's okay now" he said, trying to comfort her as best as possible. "That is in the past… of course things like this hurt, but that doesn't mean you have to dwell on it forever… it is a pain you'll carry with you your whole life, yes. But as difficult as it may seem, you have to look at your future. I'm sure your parents took the icicles so they could protect you. Now it is up to you to make their sacrifice worthwhile by living a happy life"

"Y-you sound like you've been through that as well…" Missy said between sobs.

Hunter nodded slowly. "My village was burned completely" he said. "It was one of the Five Dragon Lords, Charmer, the Black Phantom, who did it. He tried to kill me, but my parents stepped in and took the attack for me…"

"I'm sorry…" Missy cried. "I'm so sorry…"

Hunter slowly shook his head. "Don't be" he pleaded. "That wasn't your fault. But I now understand you completely… why you lied to yourself back then… why you almost cried when I jumped down that cliff along with you and also why you try to keep this happy-go-lucky attitude of yours up"

"It was my way to deal with it…" Missy's sobs were slowly subsiding. "I know I may have needed to talk to someone about it, but… I just couldn't do it… I was too weak for it. So I caged the sadness up and swore to never show it to anyone, like you do with your kindness."

"But it seems you brought it out, so we're even, right?" Hunter smiled at her. Missy nodded, smiling herself.

"At first" she then started. "I saw you as my older brother and friend… but then I realized that… this is so much more. Whenever you're there, I become happier without even realizing it. I felt… relaxed whenever I was close to you. It's true that I saved you, but… in my heart, you are the one that saved me, changed me… and ultimately made me… have a will to fight like you do. Hunter, I want to stay at your side in the upcoming battles. I'm fighting with you"

"I see" Hunter said. "Then I'm counting on you in our upcoming battles"

"I will not disappoint you" Missy smiled brightly at him.

Both had not noticed that they still were hugging each other, Missy's head leaning against Hunter's chest, but they did not seem to care anyway.

"Hunter and Missy, sitting in a tree…" a teasing voice suddenly sang behind them, greatly startling both the Grovyle and the Espeon.

Both turned around to see Blaze with a gleeful smile on her face.

"Heya, sidekicks" she greeted. "Having a little 'alone time' together?"

"Blaze!" Missy's face was beat red, while Hunter was to startled to really react. "We… we're nothing like that, right Hunter?"

"Huh?!" the Grovyle asked, still confused. "Oh, yeah, right…"

"'In my heart, you are the one that saved me'. Weren't that your words, sidekick Missy?" Blaze teased.

"Blaze, stop it!" Missy shouted, face still red as an Octillery.

But the Vulpix did not listen to her. Luckily, Riv stepped in with an urgent message.  
>"Cloud disappeared" she said, breathing heavily.<p>

"What?!" Hunter asked with a shocked expression. "Where to?"  
>"Cold and I were looking for him, but we couldn't find him" the Absol replied. "I'm sorry"<p>

"Damn it!" Hunter cursed. "I am a pathetic watchman…"

"Hunter, don't blame yourself" Missy pleaded. "I'm sure he was just going somewhere and will be back soon"

"He probably just needed to use the potty" Blaze said. "Yay for toilet humour!"

The others face-palmed. "This isn't the time to be joking" Hunter said sternly. "Is Cold still out looking for him?"

"Yes" Riv answered.

"Good" Hunter said. "I don't want to wake the others, but I also don't want to leave them unguarded. Missy, you, Blaze and me will go look for Cloud. Riv, you stay here and watch the others, okay?"

"Got it" everyone said and went to do their respective tasks. Blaze, Hunter and Missy split up to have a better chance at finding the Riolu, who went missing only moments ago, while Riv stayed behind to look after their friends.

…

"I knew we'd meet eventually" Tysion said with a sinister tone in his voice. The black Riolu was already in a fighting stance, facing his opponent down. "Foolish brother… today, you will be put on the right path"

"It is you who's wrong!" Cloud roared angrily, eyes flashing red as an aura of blue energy surrounded him.

"Am I now?" Tysion grinned evilly and wrapped himself in a black aura. "Well, then let's fight and see who's right and who's wrong!"

"Bring it on!" Cloud roared, ready for battle.

**Author's notes: This might be the longest chapter so far… anyway, look forward to the next one, folks!**

**Peace out, **

**- Shining4Charizard**


	18. A Reason To Fight

**Author's notes: Here it is! The brother VS brother battle between Cloud and Tysion. Damn, were almost near the climax of this story. About five or more chapters are planned for the whole thing, but we'll see about that. Anyway! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I'm not gonna say it again!**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 18: The Dark Side of the…**

**Hunter: No.**

**Me: What do you mean 'no'? How did you even get here?!**

**Hunter: We are NOT doing that joke!**

**Me: I was gonna say 'Aura'…**

**Hunter: Still, no! You are a writer! Be creative, damn it!**

**Me: Ugh, fiiine.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 18: A Reason To Fight**

**Me: Better?**

**Hunter: Much.**

**Me: Why does he have to be the boss?**

**Hunter: Say anything?**

**Me: No, no…**

**Hunter: Good! On with the show!**

Cloud and Tysion wasted no further time talking. They immediately rushed at each other, Cloud's hands and feet glowing blue with aura energy flowing from them, while his eyes glowed bright red. Tysion's hands and feet were wrapped in blood red aura energy. When the two Riolu clashed they used nothing but their advanced Martial Arts techniques. Cloud barely dodged a punch to his face while aiming for his brother's side with a kick, which Tysion defended against through the use of his left arm. Both Riolu were exceptionally fast with their attacks and only some streaks of blue and red light swerving past each other could be seen with the naked eye. Tysion's attacks were more furious and powerful, but less focused than Cloud's, who tried his best not to get hit and get a few hits in at the same time. But suddenly, Tysion smirked, turned around and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to Cloud's stomach. He cried in pain and was thrown a few yards away, where he landed on solid rock. Coughing and holding the place where he had been hit, he forced himself up to his feet. He noticed that some of his fur and skin had been burnt.

"So that is Tysion's power?" Cloud thought to himself and stared at his brother, who was still smirking evilly. "I never knew he got so powerful…"

"Impressed?" Tysion asked. "Finally… finally I am stronger than you! Back in Mahagony Town in Johto, we trained for years and I couldn't catch up with you. But now… thanks to this power, I have finally surpassed you!"

"So this is what it is about…" Cloud mumbled. "You were jealous of me because you were weaker. That's why your aura got darker and darker… and that's why you joined up with Kyurem when we got teleported here. He promised you power, didn't he?"

"Wrong" Tysion said. "You've got it all wrong. I couldn't care less about Kyurem… but that 'Shadow Pokémon' thing really caught my interests… so I ultimately decided to let myself be made into a Shadow Pokémon. How do you think my fur turned black? But they let me retain my usual attacks and my sentience for the sole reason of killing you!"

"This is…" Cloud gritted his teeth. "What's gotten into you? You were teleported along with me!"

"And you assume that we were teleported to stop Kyurem from destroying the world?" Tysion asked, still with an evil grin on his face.

"I don't know why we were teleported" Cloud admitted. "But… but…" With a loud battle cry, he rushed at his brother again, again trying to strike him with physical hits. Tysion defended and fought back, resulting in the same situation as before.

"I believed in that ever since I met Hunter and the others" Cloud screamed and threw an Aura Sphere at point blank range, knocking Tysion back.

Cloud stood there, heavily panting and bleeding from a cut on his face. The black Riolu suddenly started to laugh maniacally. A black aura suddenly surrounded him and his pupils turned to slits.

"You are mistaken" Tysion said, but something was weird about the way he said it. Cloud suddenly had an incredibly ominous feeling about the black aura surrounding his younger brother. He said that last sentence with his own voice, and a second, much deeper and creepy sounding, echoing voice that sent chills down the Riolu's spine

"We called you here… for the sole purpose of serving us" Tysion, or rather the other voice coming from him, said. "It was you that defied your destiny and as such it was your fault I had to give this brother of yours a portion of my power to destroy you"

"Who are you?" Cloud growled. The voice speaking from Tysion laughed evilly.

"That's what you'd like to know, huh?" Tysion grinned and rushed at Cloud with more force than ever before. The blue Riolu had trouble dodging his brother's attacks. Every second strike hit him. An especially powerful punch ultimately knocked him to the ground.

"Damn it…" Cloud coughed up blood. "I'm… damn…"

"Hahaha… this is all you can do against the power of the black aura?" Tysion, now with his normal voice but still wrapped in his black energy, taunted him. "Makes me wonder why you and your friends could escape our grasp all the time… oh, well. I guess, I'll just end this here"

The black aura focused around Tysion's right hand and formed very sharp claws. He readied himself and raised his Shadow Claw to stab his older brother. "Farewell, Cloud" he muttered and rapidly sunk his claws into his brother's back. Cloud cried out in pain. It was the worst he had ever felt before. Thoughts of his friends rushed through his mind as his surroundings flashed red around him.

"Damn" he thought. "No… I can't let it… end here…"

"_Don't give up!"_

"What?"

"_Stand up, my friend!"_

"_You're almost as amazing as me! Cloud, you have to stand!"_

"_She's right, Cloud! You can't let yourself get beaten like this!"_

"_Cloud, you must survive! You can defeat him! I know it!"_

"H-hunter… Blaze… Lance… Riv…?" Cloud asked himself. "What's going on? Why can I hear their… voices in my head?"

His body suddenly started to glow brightly.

"What?!" Tysion asked, shocked and had to cover his eyes to not get blinded by the light.

"Tysion…" a voice suddenly called out to the black Riolu, who looked at the place where his brother was supposed to be lying. But he did not lie on the ground anymore. He was standing tall before him as a Lucario.

"How?!" Tysion cried out and mindlessly attacked Cloud, who effortlessly dodged his attack and delivered a powerful kick to his brother's stomach, causing the latter to fall over and cry out in pain. Cloud extended the spikes on the back of his hands into claws in a wolverine-like fashion. "So in the end… you were more powerful than me, huh?" Tysion asked, looking over his shoulder at his brother, who stood above him, claws ready to strike. "It's not about power" Cloud said. "It's about what is the most important to you. I just realized that. This evolution couldn't be achieved without the help of my friends whom I believe in. Tysion… this is why you could never beat me"

"Don't get me started with that crap!" Tysion growled. "Friendship is no power! Nor is hope, beliefs or anything similar! They're just words! And words can't give you power!"

"You're wrong…" Cloud said. "Brother… this is to save you!" He sunk his Metal Claws into his brother's sealed heart. A stream of black aura came from the heart and spilled everywhere before dissolving into nothingness.

"_Hey, bro!" Tysion called out to his brother Cloud, who was training at the Lake of Rage, located north of Mahagony Town. "Wanna check out my new move?"_

"_To tell you the truth" the Lucario replied. "I don't have the time right now"_

"_But it's really awesome" Tysion said, insisting on showing his brother his new move._

"_Fine, let's see it" Cloud finally agreed with a sigh._

"_Okay, here goes!" Tysion announced and put his hands together as an ominous purple and black energy started to collect between his palms. "Now!" he shouted and the black energy transformed into a beam, shooting across the Lake of Rage and into the distance, creating a small explosion in the forest of the other side of the like._

"_Pretty awesome, huh?" Tysion grinned proudly. Cloud said nothing. He only eyed his brother. "That… was a pretty strong Dark Pulse" he said. "How did you get that good with the attack? Even grandpa's Dark Pulse isn't that powerful"_

"_Huh, I just think I'm really strong" Tysion said, still proud of himself. "I bet I'm stronger than you now!"_

"_Wanna test?" Cloud challenged._

"_Oh yeah!"_

_The two brothers fought for two hours straight, but in the end, Cloud came out victorious. _

"_I guess I'm still no match for you…" Tysion sighed in disappointment._

"_You lasted two hours full this time!" Cloud said, heavily panting. "You got a lot stronger, Tysion"_

_The younger Riolu mumbled something and crossed his arms over his chest._

"_Let's go back, okay?" Cloud asked, smiling._

"_Fine" Tysion growled, annoyed that his older brother still was stronger than him._

_Later that evening, Tysion was alone outside of their house in Mahagony Town. He was glooming over his loss earlier this afternoon. _

"_Why can't I be stronger than my brother?" he questioned himself. "How is it that he's always so much stronger than me?"_

"_Sometimes, we don't get what we desire" a voice suddenly said. "Even if we try our hardest. Some things are just not meant to be"_

"_Who's there?" Tysion jumped from his seat and turned around. He saw a huge black Charizard standing behind him, eyeing him with red eyes. The Riolu immediately got into a battle stance._

_The black Charizard smiled at him. "No need to tense up that much" he said. "I just came over because your glooming made me curious. If I startled you, I apologize"_

_Tysion really did calm down a little. Even though this Charizard seemed extremely powerful, at the same time Tysion believed that it could be trusted._

"_You desire power, don't you?" the black Charizard asked. _

"_Yes" Tysion replied. "I just want to be stronger than my big brother. That's all"_

"_Do you have a reason to become more powerful? Do you fight for something specific?"_

"_No, I don't. I just want to surpass my brother"_

"_And that's exactly the reason you aren't going to beat your brother anytime soon"_

"_What are you saying?" Tysion turned towards the Charizard with an angry expression on his face. Who did that giant lizard think it was?_

"_There is a saying: 'You can't be powerful if you don't fight for a reason' and I found that saying to be true. Ever since I had a reason to fight, my power increased immensely"_

"_So I need a reason?" Tysion asked confused. "But is surpassing my brother not a reason already?"_

"_Maybe your reason isn't big enough" the Charizard said. "Maybe you need to think bigger than that"_

"_Bigger?" Tysion gave the black dragon in front of him a bewildered look. "But how do I find such a reason?"_

"_You don't exactly _find _your reason" the Charizard started to explain. "It is granted to you by fate and fate alone. The only way to see if your reason was right is the fulfillment of your goal"_

"_That means if I fight for a reason and I manage to beat my brother afterwards then I will know if the reason I fought for was the right one?" Tysion asked._

"_Exactly" the Charizard replied with a firm nod. "Maybe, if you have difficulties finding your own reason, you want to help me with mine?"  
>"What's yours?" the Riolu asked, finding the Charizard's words to be highly intriguing.<em>

"_I, for one, am trying to change this world" the Charizard replied. "There's so much war in this world, even though the last one just ended, there is a new one coming up. And I have the ambition to change that. I want this world to be in peace"_

"_Sounds good" Tysion admitted. "To not be afraid of your hometown getting destroyed because of some money-hungry idiot…"_

"_Tysion! Where are you?!" Cloud's voice suddenly called out to his brother. The Charizard turned around, the looked back at Tysion. "If you made your mind up, come see me at the Lake of Rage. Ask for 'Charmer, the Black Phantom' if you don't find me right away" With this, he left Tysion alone to be found by his brother Cloud._

"_Hey, bro!" he greeted. _

"_I was worried about you, Tysion!" the Lucario sighed in relief. "Finally, I found you! Where have you been?"_

"_Here" Tysion replied. "I met somebody who told me he could make me more powerful"_

"_What?" Cloud asked with a confused expression on his face. _

"_Yup, and he said to meet him at the Lake of Rage. I think, I'm going there tomorrow"_

"_Then I'll come with you" Cloud decided.  
>"Why?"<em>

"_Because you are my little brother. And I can't have mom worried about you so I'll come with you so she'll be at ease"_

"_Ugh, fine…" Tysion gave an annoyed sigh, but gave in to his brother's will. In his mind, he was happy, because finally he found a way to maybe surpass his brother Cloud._

**Author's notes: Well? What do you think? I, for one, really enjoyed writing this chapter. Heck, I enjoy writing EVERY chapter, but for some reason, I kinda like this one in particular. Anyway, tell me your opinions and look forward for more!**

**Peace out,**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	19. The End

**Author's notes: We went pretty far in this story, didn't we? Well, as always, I'm not going to say much besides wishing for you to enjoy this chapter as you (hopefully) did every chapter so far. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. **

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 19: The End**

_The sun rose above the high mountains that surrounded Mahagony Town in Johto. Tysion was already up and awake, waiting for his brother Cloud in front of their house, a small cabin made entirely of wood. _

"_You're slow" he teased. _

"_Did you think telling mom that we are off to Lake of Rage was easy?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow. "She said 'be careful of Gyarados, they tend to bite and kill you and yada, yada, yada'. I know she says that because she's worried about us, but does she have to pull that one out every time we leave?" Cloud sighed with annoyance. Tysion grinned at him before running off into the direction of the Lake of Rage. "Hey, wait!" Cloud yelled after him and followed his little brother._

_As they got closer to the lakeside, their sensitive ears picked up the sound of fighting. As far as they could hear, it was an angry Gyarados fighting against an unknown foe. The curiosity pushed them on and they went faster._

_When they arrived, the battle was already over. All the grass on the lakeside was burnt down, some patches were still burning with black flames, as was the dead body of a Gyarados laying halfway on the shore. In front of it, the black Charizard from the evening before stood tall and victorious._

"_This should do it" he said, before looking behind him, seeing the two brothers with mouths agape. _

"_D-did you beat that all by yourself?" Cloud was the first one to find words to express his shock._

"_He wasn't that much of a challenge" the Charizard said, looking at the Gyarados' body, which was slowly devoured by pitch-black flames. "I certainly had worse before"_

"_Wow, he really is something else!" Tysion was impressed and hyped up. Was he going to become strong like that if he followed the Charizard?_

"_I see you came to see me" the black Charizard greeted him. "Have you made up your mind?"_

"_Yes, I have" Tysion nodded. _

"_Very well…" the Charizard started, but then he noticed Cloud. "Who is this?"_

"_That is Cloud" Tysion replied. "My older brother. I could only come because he went with me"_

"_So you are the one that your brother feels inferior to" the Charizard said to Cloud. _

"_I don't know what exactly he told you, but it is true, I am Tysion's older brother" for some reason, the Lucario did not trust the Charizard. "And I am worrying about what you might do to my little brother"_

"_So you have a reason to be strong" the Charizard said with a thoughtful look. "Your little brother lacks a reason for becoming strong, which is why he isn't as strong as you. I asked him if he wanted to help me change this world and he seemed to be interested. And I assume he is ready to follow me, since he came here"_

"_Yes, I am!" Tysion exclaimed happily. _

"_Then take this" the Charizard handed him a black, spiky object. "Swallow it. You'll need it later"_

_Tysion did as he was told, but suddenly, a stinging pain went through his body, which started to emit an ominous black aura. He fell to his knees, coughing._

"_Tysion!" Cloud shouted worried. "What did you do to him, you bastard?!"_

"_So… this is what having a reason feels like…?" Tysion said and got up again, his pupils reduced to slits, giving him a mad look along with his grin. "I can feel myself getting stronger by the minute" Tysion's fur slowly turned black._

"_Well then… shall we depart?" the Charizard asked. Tysion nodded, then looked back at his brother, who stared back at him with a shocked expression._

"_So I was right" Cloud roared and got into a battle stance. "I felt something was wrong with you from the moment I saw you! What did you do to my brother?!" He lunged at the Charizard who brought him down with just one single hit.  
>"Aaah… brother…" he groaned and before he fainted, he could hear "I hate you, brother" from Tysion. <em>

_As Cloud woke up, he found himself surrounded by sand. Only the clear blue sky above him was something different. Even in his groggy state, he noticed that this was not the Lake of Rage anymore._

"_Where… am I?" he asked himself and put a hand on his head. That's when it hit him, literally. His hand felt much softer, as if his pelt hat somehow shortened itself. Also, the spike on his chest was missing._

"_What happened?" he asked himself in shock. "How did I become a Riolu again?!"_

Cloud took his claws back out of his brother's sealed heart, looking at his body. "So, this is how it ends with us?" Cloud asked himself and shook his head. "This is what'll happen if you get obsessed with power…"

"Heh…" his brother suddenly breathed, greatly startling the Lucario, who looked down into his brother's madly grinning face. At the same time, he noticed that his Shadow Claw had pierced him. "Got you at last" Tysion growled weakly. "With this… I can finally die… in peace… goodbye, idiot…" His eyes closed and his hand fell down, pulling out the extension of black energy of Cloud's body. The Shadow Claw vanished into thin air.

Cloud still stared into his brother's face and noticed that it almost looked peaceful.

"This… is how it was supposed to be…" Cloud started smiling to himself as he fell down beside his brother, too weak to stand anymore, one arm around him as if holding him close like he did when they were little.

…

"Damn it, Cloud!" Blaze cursed under her breath. "Where are you?"

"I couldn't find him" Missy told her when the search trio met up again.

"I also had no luck" Hunter said, sighing with worry. "I wonder where he could have run off to?"

"I found him!" Cold suddenly called and the Sneasel appeared before them.

"Really?" Luna, who arrived with Riv, Lava, Heat, Vincent and her brother Luno, asked.

"Yes" Cloud answered. "But it is pretty far away. And last time I checked, he was fighting against a black Riolu, so that means he is probably in trouble"

"Tysion!" Hunter shouted.

"You know that black Riolu?" Missy asked curiously.

"I've met him once before" Hunter replied. "He is Cloud's brother, but he is associated with the Dragon Empire. Anyway, if Cloud is in trouble, we have to hurry"

"But no one can run that fast" Cold said. "I took two hours to get there and another two to get back. And I am used to walking around"

"That isn't good at all" Riv said. "We should be able to reach him if we were able to fly, but…"

"No one of us can fly" Hunter finished the sentence with a frustrated growl.

"But I can!" a voice called and a Salamence landed in front of the startled group. "Lance is here to save the day"

"Lance?!" Hunter asked and pointed at the Salamence. "Is that really you?"

"I evolved while fighting Grim" Lance said. "It turns out that he was my father. But still, I killed him, because he was the enemy"

"You took down one of the Great Dragon Lords?" Cold asked surprised.

"Save the talking for later" Hunter hurriedly said. "We have to go where Cloud is immediately!"

"Right" the others agreed and climbed onto Lance's back. It turned out that he was tall enough to fit them all onto his back without them blocking his wings.

With a few strong flaps, the turquoise dragon was in the air and flew in the direction Cold gave him. The whole group hoped to find Cloud unharmed, while Lance was retelling his meeting with the late Grim the Destroyer of the Five Great Dragon Lords.

It did not take long before they reached the site of the battle between Cloud and his brother. They were all shocked to see a bleeding Lucario lying next to an equally bleeding black Riolu, both unconscious, one arm of the Lucario around the Riolu.

"No…" Hunter breathed as he saw this. "Cloud…"

"I can't believe it" Lance said. "Cloud… died? And evolved?"

"It seems so" Riv nodded slowly.

"I don't accept it!" Blaze suddenly shouted and rushed towards Cloud. "Wake up! Wake up, you idiot!" She slapped him repeatedly with her front paw all the while streams of tears ran down her cheeks.

"Blaze…" Missy stared at her friend with a worried expression, while the others just stared at her, not knowing what to make of the situation.

Despite all the effort Blaze put in, Cloud did not react to her. "Damn it…" she sobbed. "Why did it have to be him? Why?"

Hunter went to her and put a hand on her shaking shoulder. Blaze looked at him, but Hunter eyed the body of his friend. "The best are the first to go" he said, standing back up. "As far as I am concerned, we will keep on fighting… to pay respect to this grand sacrifice. We will bring down the Dragon Empire for Cloud's and Grim's sake" The others agreed with a silent nod.

Blaze still sat beside Cloud and cried. "Wake up, Cloud" she managed to say between her painful sobs. "Please… wake up… please… stay with me…"

"Not so awesome now, eh?" a familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked down only to see Cloud smirking at her. "I never thought you'd feel like this… guess, even the Awesome, Amazing Blaze isn't immune to tears"

"You idiot!" Blaze shouted, slapping Cloud again. Inside, she was as happy as she had never been before.

"Cloud!" Lance greeted. "I see you don't watch the grass grow from down below, are you?"

"I'm not planning on dying anytime soon" Cloud replied and stood up. There was no indication of him ever being injured in the first place, besides the blood covering his chest area. "Someone saved me" he explained that. "When I was passing out, I saw a tiny figure beside me, doing something. I guess whoever it was saved me"

"That's good" Hunter said. "Good to have you back, friend"

"Same here" Cloud smirked and gave Hunter a brofist.

"Now" the Grovyle said. "We have to go to the Temple of Truth and Ideals and reawaken Reshiram so that we can beat Kyurem".

"Not so fast!" a voice said and the remaining four Great Dragon Lords, save Charmer, the Black Phantom appeared before the friends. Behind them was a huge army of Shadow Pokémon of different kinds, including Rhydon, Golem, Torterra, Venusaur, Infernape, Aggron, Steelix, Onix, Haunter, Nidoking and –queen as well as Emboar, Serperior, Volcarona, Durant, Swanna, Unfezant, Braviary, Pidgeot, Swellow, Fearow, Dodrio, Noctowl, Quagsire, Crawdaunt, Kingler, Electrode, Hypno, Machamp, Alakazam, Gengar, Scizor and many many more.

"Damn it!" Hunter growled.

"Heh" Fang laughed at the group. "So these guys are the ones that interfere with our plans, eh?"

"We will stop you right here" Shark announced. "You will not see tomorrow's daylight"

"And you shall also pay for killing Grim, the Destroyer" Drake said. "Master Kyurem doesn't need to bother with you"

"Drake?" Riv asked with a shocked expression.

"You know that guy?" Lava asked confused. Riv just nodded. "I'll take him" the Absol suddenly said sternly.

"Oh?" the Dragonite seemed amused by this. "If it isn't Riv"

"Come to think of it" Fang said. "That Vulpix looks awfully familiar…"

"Those Quilava and Cyndaquil too" Shark added. "Very well. We will take you on alone, while the rest of you fights our army here"

"Works for me!" Blaze called out. "You will not defeat me!"  
>"I was going to say the same thing to you!" Fang roared.<p>

"Blaze, take this" Hunter suddenly said to the Vulpix, handing her a Fire Stone. "You're going to need it"

"Really? Thanks!" Blaze smiled with glee and took the Fire Stone. She suddenly noticed herself getting bigger, her fur turning golden and her six tails splitting up to form nine in total. "I evolved! I really evolved!" Blaze, now a Ninetales, squealed.

"This will change nothing!" Fang roared and the two were suddenly teleported somewhere else, as were Riv and Drake and Shark, Heat and Lava, leaving the rest of them to fight the huge army behind them.

"We will deal with this" Lance suddenly said to Hunter, looking at him alongside Cold, Cloud, Luna, Luno and Vincent. "You two go on ahead" Cloud added.

"Are you sure?" Hunter asked. The others nodded.

"There is someone out there you need to take revenge on" Lance said with a smile. "That dang black Charizard, right?"

"Yes" Hunter nodded. "He killed my family"

"Then go and fight him" Vincent spoke up. "Hunter, you can't let such crime go unpunished! And you have to protect Missy now, okay?"

"Will do" Hunter was hesitating a little on the prospect of leaving his friends to fight a huge army but the thought of Charmer, the Black Phantom being out there urged him to leave, Missy following close behind.

**Author's notes: This is it! The battle against the Dragon Empire has finally reached its climax. The battlefield is split into five parts, which are as follows:**

**Blaze VS Fang**

**Lava and Heat VS Shark**

**Riv VS Drake**

**Lance, Cloud, Cold, Vincent, Luna and Luno VS Shadow Pokémon army**

**And finally Hunter and Missy on their way to meet the last and strongest of the Five Great Dragon Lords: Charmer, the Black Phantom and maybe subsequently Kyurem, the merciless Dragon Emperor. Can they make it to the temple of Truth and Ideals before Kyurem gets there? Will the friends survive the severe battles ahead of them? Find out in the next few chapters of 'The Adventures of Hunter'! Stay tuned!  
>Peace out,<strong>

**- Shining4Charizard **


	20. Blaze VS Fang

**Author's notes: It is here. The time for the final fights has come! Hunter's group VS the Dragon Empire! From this chapter onward, we'll be covering one of the fights after another, so look forward to that.**

**Another note about the last chapter: I'm sorry if the ending seemed rushed. I originally planned to separate one by one as they are challenged by the Great Dragon Lords and their respective armies, but I scratched that plan because I found it quite repetitive.**

**But without further ado, let's have a look at the first of many battles to come! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything save for the storyline.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 20: **

**The Awesome, Amazing Blaze VS Fang, the Rock Breaker**

Fang and Blaze, who recently evolved into a Ninetales, were teleported to a platform on top of a spear-like rock formation in the middle of more such rock-spears. They were really high up and the only way down was too steep to be possibly managed on foot.

"I have to give that one to you" Blaze said. "You know how to choose a setting for showdowns" She was grinning, brimming with confidence in herself since she was now evolved.

"This area was rigged by His Majesty Kyurem so that only one gets to be teleported back" Fang explained. "So there is no escape. One of us will live, the other will die"

"You'll soon find that you chose the wrong Pokémon to mess with!" Blaze exclaimed confidently. "I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze, hereby declare that I will defeat you!"

"You don't know who you are messing with" Fang murmured and struck a pose before exclaiming really loudly: "I am the Majestic, Magnificent Fang, the Rock Breaker, of the Five Great Dragon Lords! You, Blaze, will not stand a chance against me!"

"Wait a sec!" Blaze suddenly said and gave the Haxorus a once over. "Did you just say 'Majestic, Magnificent Fang'?"

"Yeah, why?" Fang replied, a bit confused by such question.

"Because that's what my brother used to yell out when he was about to do something stupid" while she was saying that, it hit her like a meteor. "And my brother was an Axew called Fang and the final evolution of Axew is… Haxorus. And you are a Haxorus"

"So you've finally figured it out, eh sis?" Fang mocked her. "Yes, I am your brother!"

"If you start to make weird breathing noises, I'm gonna laugh" Blaze bluntly said. "And I thought you died!"

"Well no" Fang started to explain. "I only pretended to die because I was sick of you. You were always our parents' favourite child. They resented me because I was reckless and arrogant, thinking of myself as the best there is, which I am, by the way. But you… you were always Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, always modest and kind and caring. It made me wanna puke! So I faked death so I could get away from you and your wretched family. And see where I am now! I am the most powerful dragon in the world and if that wasn't enough, I am one of the Five Great Dragon Lords and to top it off, I, Fang, the Rock Breaker, have the highest physical AND overall power among them!" He started to laugh.

"No, you're not" Blaze said bitterly. "You're weak, Fang. Really weak. You hide your fear of inferiority behind a mask of overconfidence and a huge ego. When I thought you were dead, I adopted your personality because I really admired it. Back then, I interpreted it as your true personality, that you really were as strong as you said. And I… as your sister, I wanted to be just like you. But our parents always stuck me as that 'Miss Goody-Two-Shoes' cliché you just mentioned… it was okay for a while, but I got sick of it. I got sick of the way my parents treated you and I still hate them for that. That's why I adopted your personality. I wanted to show them how much I loved my brother, ready to accept their resentment towards him as resentment towards me. But now I see that that personality of yours is just a façade, a lie. And I see that I was lying to myself as well. I thought by adopting your personality, I could be as strong as you, be closer to you. But now I see that I was wrong. Your façade was just one to hide your cowardice, your inferiority, your weakness. And it still is"

"Stop spouting such nonsense!" Fang roared. "If you don't, I will kill you right away!"

"You'd have no other choice, anyway" Blaze said bitterly. "If you want to be the one to get out of here, you'd have to kill me. But know that I have a purpose now. I have to save Orre and the world together with Cloud, Hunter and the others… from you! So I, the Awesome, Amazing Blaze will take you down, Fang, the Rock Breaker!"

Blaze's confidence returned to her and she opened her mouth to let out a powerful Fire Blast, razing the ground below it as it made its way towards Fang, who barely managed to dodge it. "Pathetic" he roared and rushed at Blaze with glowing claws, slashing at his sister with his Dragon Claw attack, but no avail. The Ninetales was nimble enough to dodge every strike. "I knew I am immortal" she smiled to herself. "Are we weakening, Fang?"

"Tsk" Fang growled. "And I thought you hated that attitude"

"Who says I hate it?" Blaze grinned at him, gracefully landing a few feet away from the Haxorus. "I just said I hate that I adopted it from you under the pretense of feeling closer to you. Now I have it, because it slowly became my own over the years!"

"Don't you mock me!" Fang growled angrily and rushed at the Ninetales with the axe-like appendages at his mouth starting to glow. He was planning on ending the fight with his Guillotine attack.

Blaze jumped out of the way and onto her brother's head, forcing him to smash his head into the ground. Delivering a kick to the back of his head, Blaze forced herself away from him and turned around to see how he was doing. He was muttering curses into the rocky ground below him, in which he was stuck with one side of his 'head axe' (A/N: I don't know how else I should call that).

Blaze could not help but laugh. "And YOU want to be the strongest of the Five Dragon Lords?" she said in between fits of laughing. "I highly doubt it"

Fang got angry and started to stomp on the ground, unleashing a powerful Earthquake. Ninetales had trouble finding a stable footing as the ground below her started to break up. Several rocks fell from both sides of the battlefield into the abyss below. Blaze would have almost got caught up in the avalanche, had she not used her Quick Attack to get back up. "That was close" she thought to herself. But while she was distracted, she could not see the oncoming Dragon Tail attack, which smashed her into the ground, making her witness Fang's exceptional physical prowess first hand  
>"Got you now" he muttered. "This is what happens when you let your guard down. Now, prepare to die" Fang let his head axe glow again, readying it for another try with Guillotine, which would most certainly kill Blaze if she got hit with it.<p>

Blaze was lying on the ground, having trouble standing back up. She was sure the Dragon Tail had smashed some of her ribs. Unbelievable amounts of pain shot through her entire body. At the same time, her assumption of immortality shattered like glass.

"Any last words, sis?" Fang asked mockingly.

"Why… do you even ask that?" Blaze spat out. "You'll kill me and that's it, right? You won't feel any remorse for killing your sister. You'll get rid of me and that's it"

"Yep, pretty much" Fang stated coldly.

"Then you can die" Blaze, who suddenly stood behind him, said.

"What?" Fang asked in shock, looking directly at Blaze's glowing red eyes, seeing the illusion he struck down vanish from the corner of his eyes. "How did you…?"

"That's one of Ninetales' special powers" Blaze proudly stated. "I can show you illusions of stuff you want to see to distract you. I believe it was called 'gen-something'".

"Wrong series!" Fang growled and attacked Blaze with his Guillotine, managing to hit her slightly with the tip of his tusks. But this little hit was enough to make the Ninetales cry out in pain and fall to the ground behind the Haxorus. She immediately jumped back to her feet, launching a Flamethrower at Fang, which he could not dodge due to the attack come from behind him. He was struck full force, which caused him to fall over. Blaze did not wait until he got back up and immediately followed up with a Fire Blast, engulfing Fang in an inferno. The Haxorus screamed in pain and thrashed around to get rid of the flames, but they did not let go of him. "Damn you, Blaze!" he growled in pain. "DAMN YOU!"

"This victory is mine, Fang" Blaze said silently as she watched her brother burn. Tears welled up in her eyes because the memories of the moment of her brother's "death" came back to her. And who would want their own brother, evil or not, die painfully by burning alive? Blaze, however, had to shake off her feelings of guilt, telling herself that it was for the best of the Pokémon World. She knew that she had to do this if she ever wanted to see her friends again.

It was not long before Fang's screams of pain subsided into silence and the flames covering his body slowly and steadily continued eating away at what little was left of him.

"I'm sorry, Fang" Blaze said in her thoughts. "But if you threaten the lives of those important to me, then I have to stop you at all costs" Deep inside of her she knew she became a murderer for the sake of justice, but she had to deal with it. This was her choice, no one forced her into this. And she promised herself she would help Hunter and her other friends to prevent things like this from happening again as she was teleported away, back to her friends, who where engulfed in a fierce fight against thousands of Shadow Pokémon.

"Back already?" Cloud greeted.

"I just defeated Fang and now I'm here to help" Blaze replied with a smile. "It'll be okay now"

"What?" Cloud stared at the Ninetales with a surprised look on his face. "No bragging about your awesomeness?"

"Nah" Blaze said, shaking her head. "I'll save that for after this fight. Let's go!"

"Right" Cloud nodded and, together with Blaze, he started an assault on the enemy's forces, aided by Lance, Luna, Luno, Cold and Vincent, who where doing good despite being severely outnumbered. It seemed that tactical planning was not a Shadow Pokémon's strong point, because they attacked without any real plans, just relentlessly smashing everything that moved.

**Author's notes: That concludes the first fight. I hope you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next one!**

**Peace out,**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	21. Roaring Flames of Wrath

**Author's notes: Heed the dragon's cataclysmic roar for he shall fell everything within the reach of his breath. **

**Hey, guys! With this little 'creative' introductory line, I'll throw you right into another chapter of this story! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, well… I don't own it. You know what I mean.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 21: Roaring Flames of Wrath**

Lava and Heat stood in a wide, grassy area. A few feet away was Shark, who looked at them with bloodthirst in his eyes. The Dragon Lord was very well ready to kill the two siblings.

Heat was shaking and hiding behind his older sister, who also shook a little, but stood her ground while trying to impress the Garchomp with large flames coming from her head and tail area. Shark, however, just seemed amused by this.

"Your puny flames are nothing" he mocked her. "Lava, you of all Pokémon should know"

"I know you full well, Shark, the Bloody!" Lava said angrily. "You were the one that imprisoned Heat and me in the Shadow Pokémon Lab to make us become Shadow Pokémon"

"And you were defeated back then as well" Shark said. "You and your little brother weren't able to do a thing. So why don't you just give up and let yourself get killed already? I'll make it fast and painless if you do"

"As if!" Lava shouted. "I'll never give up my brother to the likes of you! We decided to fight together with Hunter and his friends! And we surely will win!"

"Heh… heheheheh" Shark started to laugh. "You puny Pokémon amuse me. But playtime is over!" He rushed forward so fast that he turned invisible for the naked eye, reappearing right in front of Lava, who protected her little brother from his destructive Dragon Rage. She barely managed to jump out of the way of his attack, but was grazed a little on her side.

"Damn, he's fast" the Quilava thought.

"S-sister… are you okay?" Heat asked with a shaking voice.

"Somehow" Lava replied. "Don't worry, Heat. I'll keep you safe"

She turned towards Shark and used a powerful Flamethrower, which he ducked away from and used Dig to bury underground. "Coward" Lava muttered and jumped into the hole after him, shooting a Flamethrower inside it.

She could hear Shark growl in pain and rushed into the direction his voice came from. "You're mine!" she yelled when she arrived there and used a Flamethrower up close. The Garchomp had to shield himself with his arm blade-like fins to neutralize the damage. "I've had enough of this" he growled, surrounding himself in a blue light which soon turned into the shape of a dragon and slammed himself into Lava, pushing her up through the solid ground and when they arrived at the surface, threw her high into the sky with the Dragon Rush.

Shark landed safely on his feet, while Lava fell onto the grass. Heat was watching the scene with horror in his eyes. "Sister…" his whole body started shaking.

Shark slowly approached Lava, who was still lying on the ground, desperately trying to get up. "Had enough?" he asked.

"I'm far from that" she said and unleashed a Smokescreen from her mouth.

"Argh, what the…?" Shark had to shield his eyes from the smoke and Lava was able to get away from him and out of the smoke cloud, firing a Swift attack back to where Shark was still standing. She could hear the star shaped beams connect with their goal and rushed to Heat's side, smiling confidently. "That should do it" she thought and looked back, but she noticed that her Smokescreen was replaced by a huge tornado of sand. She could hear the Garchomp's roar as he freed himself from the smoke cloud inside of the sand tornado and as it subsided, he stood before the two fire types completely unharmed. One of his fins started to glow.

"You've angered me now" he said threateningly and aimed his Brick Break attack at Heat, who was too slow to escape. "Heat!" Lava cried and pushed her brother out of the way, only to be hit herself. She could feel all of her bones crack upon the impact and everything around her flashed red before she completely lost consciousness.

"SISTER!" Heat cried as he saw his sister's lifeless body fall to the ground.

"This is what you get for interfering with me" Shark spat on the body of Lava and placed one foot on her to humiliate her sacrifice.

All of Heat's nerves were acting up, his entire body shook in pain as tears started falling uncontrollably from his eyes. Seeing his sister die right in front of him was too much for him to take. He was not sure what exactly it was that he felt. It was pain mixed with sadness and extreme anger. His eyes opened fully and started to glow red as a huge wildfire came from his back, which enveloped the Cyndaquil.

"What is going on?" Shark asked and looked at the fireball Heat was in, which got bigger with every passing moment.

"YOU BASTARD…" came a voice from inside. "YOU… KILLED MY SISTER… AND FOR THAT… YOU MUST DIE!"  
>The fireball surrounded the neck area of a fully evolved Typhlosion with glowing blood red eyes and turned into a flaring collar of sorts. The air around the new Pokémon started to flicker from the sheer heat the Typhlosion was emitting and everything in his vicinity started to catch fire. Heat roared loudly and large explosions suddenly occurred in random places around the battlefield.<p>

"How is this possible?" Shark asked, getting ready for a fight. "A Pokémon evolving twice at the same time?!"

Heat looked at the Garchomp and roared with rage.

"Tsk, don't underestimate me!" Shark roared and rushed ahead with another Brick Break attack ready. As he got closer to Heat, he noticed that the heat (no pun intended) was too much for him and that he could not approach his opponent without causing himself third degree burns. "Damn" he growled.

Heat opened his mouth and unleashed an unbelievably powerful Flamethrower, scorching every ounce of grass it touched and making its way towards Shark, who was hit straight on by the attack. He was thrown back quite a bit as Heat unleashed another attack. A huge explosion occurred directly on the ground the Garchomp was standing on and lava started to emit from the center of said explosion, violently shooting out everywhere.

"DIE… DIE… DIE!" Heat roared and unleashed more Eruptions as the Garchomp was consumed by the lava. Heat's relentless assault did not stop until the Garchomp was completely submerged in molten rock and metal.

Heat's fit of rage ended as soon as it came and a sudden downpour, caused by the quick changes of temperature, put out all the fires Heat started and even cooled down the lava which still leaked from the ground. The Typhlosion looked up at the sky, letting his own fire go out, before looking around for his sister. When he found her, he picked her up and cradled her, just like she used to do when he was alone and scared. He silently started crying, but the tears were not visible due to the rain.

"Sister…" he muttered. "Thank you… for protecting me all this time…"

He put Lava's body down on the ground again and started digging a grave for her. After finishing it, he put Lava's body into said grave and closed it off, marking it with a few twigs he found lying around. "I'll never forget you, sister" he swore before her grave. "Now, I'll be fighting on the behalf of you". As he made that decision, an unknown force started to pull him out of the formerly grassy field and back to his other friends, who were still fighting the enemies' army.

"I'm back" he greeted.

"Heat? Is that you?!" Blaze shouted surprised. "You evolved right into a Typhlosion… wow"

"I'll help you!" he shouted and launched a Flamethrower at a Mightyena that was attacking Vincent from behind.

"Hey, thank you!" the male Glaceon said, smiling.

"Where's your sister?" Luno asked. Heat looked down with a sad expression.

"I see…" Luno said and fell silent for a minute. "Well, you have to do your best for her, got it?"

"Right!" Heat nodded and took off to fight alongside his friends.

…

Hunter suddenly stopped in his tracks. Missy looked at him with a worried expression and stopped as well.

"Why did we stop?" she asked.

"I suddenly had a bad feeling" Hunter replied sternly. "As if one of our friends just… died…"

Missy was shocked to hear this.

"That damn Dragon Empire" Hunter gritted his teeth. "How much suffering do they have to cause before their inevitable fall?!"

"Hunter…" Missy looked at him, still worried about what happened to him. He was so angry lately, swearing to kill every last one in the Dragon Empire if need be. She hoped he would not lose himself to revenge and forget about everything that was good about him. Temporarily shaking these thoughts off, she continued to follow Hunter towards the Temple of Truth and Ideals, anxious for what might be waiting for them there.

**Author's notes: Shark sure was an a**hole, eh?**

**Anyway, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but while writing it, I thought it had enough impact as is and it didn't need to be longer.**

**Also: Sorry to PokémonGirlieGirl for killing Lava in this chapter, but I did not see another way how they (or Heat) could have defeated Shark. It's really not like I didn't like Lava, it's rather the opposite. And maybe I could have had someone else fight Shark (like Vincent for example), but I love Typhlosions and I wanted to include one in this story, so yeah… there we go. Sorry again. It wasn't meant as offense. If you take it as such, know that I'm sorry.**

**And also: Heat is a badass Typhlosion now, so that makes up for it, right?**

**Anyway, I hope you guys look forward for the next chapter! Until then…**

**Peace out,  
><strong>

**-Shining4Charizard **


	22. Unexpected Ally

**Author's notes: And here it is! The next fight against one of the Great Dragon Lords. It's the second to last one if I remember correctly. I hope, you guys'll enjoy reading it!**

**Have fun!**

**Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Pokémon and neither do you.**

**(IfbyanychancesomeoneinthestaffofGameFreakisreadin gthis:thisdoesnotapplytoyou)**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 22: Unexpected ally**

Drake and Riv wound up on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean.

"I'd never thought we'd meet again like this" Riv said, looking at the Dragonite with disbelief in her eyes.

"And I never thought you survived to this day" Drake retorted. "I must say, I am impressed"

"Don't lie" Riv said coldly. "You couldn't care less if I was dead or injured. You never did"

"Exactly" Drake agreed. "The only reason I wanted you was because you'd be a great vessel for the next Reaper of the Great Dragon Lords!"

"You disgust me" Riv said and shot a Shadow Ball from her mouth, which Drake dodged and retaliated with Ice Beam. Riv jumped out of the way, the Ice Beam froze only the spot where she had been standing.

"So he compressed the force of the attack?" Riv thought. "He must really mean it. But I can't falter, I have to defeat him"

"Drake, today you shall fall!" she announced and her eyes glowed ominously blue. The Dragonite braced himself for whatever attack the Absol might unleash on him, but nothing happened.

"Hah! A fluke?" he laughed. "I expected more from you, my 'love'"

"Don't call me that!" Riv said in anger and rushed at the Dragonite with black lightning flashing out of her blade on her head. She slashed at Drake, who dodged by flying up and he used a Flamethrower in retaliation. Riv was fast enough to dodge the attack and land safely away from it.

"Not bad, Riv" Drake admitted. "It's like I said. That's why I chose you. And it would be such a shame to end your life here. A great warrior like you deserves better. Come back to me and together, we shall rule all as king and queen of the world!"

"You're such a dreamer" Riv growled in disgust. "Why do you think I ran away from you? Because that's exactly what I didn't want. What makes you think I've changed my mind, jerkface?"

"You don't need to insult me" Drake gently stroke his antennae-like appendages on his head and smirked confidently. "Riv, your tongue is as sharp as your blade. Now show me your power!" With this, he launched a Thunderbolt from his antennae and aimed it directly at Riv. The lightning bolts were very fast and Riv had to be cautious with dodging because they came from multiple directions at once.

Due to her skills and nimble body, she dodged every bolt save for the last one, which she caught with her blade on her head and a charged up Night Slash. She then aimed her blade at Drake and rushed at him, the electricity from the earlier Thunderbolt mixing with the black lightning bolts of the Night Slash, strengthening the attack and also increasing its range. She slashed at Drake, who tried to dodge, but was caught in the attack and stunned by the lightning. Riv wasted no time and followed up with an Ice Beam, freezing one of Drake's legs to the ground.

"Impressive" he said, eyeing the Absol with a smirk on his face, as if he was satisfied by what he saw. "Most impressive"

"All you are missing is a monocle" Riv shook her head. "Just looking at you makes me sick" She rushed at him with another Night Slash attack ready and tried to hit Drake, who suddenly broke free of his icy leg prison and crashed into Riv with a powerful Take Down attack, throwing the Absol off balance and subsequently onto the hard rocky ground.

"Ugh…" Riv groaned. "Where did that come from?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeves as well, fair maiden" Drake said, still smirking. "Don't underestimate the strategist of the Five Great Dragon Lords Drake, the Reaper!"

"Foul tactics and deceptions were always your thing, Drake" Riv said while standing up. "Your cowardice is clearly seen in your fighting style. I have you all figured out. You can't hide anything from me"

"I'll tell you again: don't underestimate me" Drake said. "I'll have you know that I kept quite a few secrets even from you and the other Dragon Lords. None of them knows what I am truly capable of"

"Then it's about time you showed those skills" Riv challenged. "Or else you don't stand a chance"

"As you wish, my dear" Drake said, sighing with disappointment. "But know that no one who witnessed this power has lived to tell about it. I wasn't planning on using it on you, but you leave me no choice"

Slowly, his body began glowing red as his eyes turned to slits. The Dragonite roared loudly as the Outrage took him over and he rushed towards Riv, who was too slow to dodge and was thrown against a rock, which crumbled upon the impact. Drake did not stop his assault and repeatedly attacked Riv in a fit of self-induced rage. She knew that she could not dodge his attacks and steeled herself against the impacts of them, trying to endure them while assuming that his rage would subside with time.

"Easier said than done…" she thought to herself after Drake hit her for the fourth time, which almost sent her flying over the cliff and down into the pointy rocks below. "Convenient" she muttered with an annoyed tone as Drake came for her for the fifth time. Knowing that she would surely die if that hit her, she quickly launched an Ice Beam at the Dragonite, stopping him dead in its tracks and freezing him completely.

"Whew" she sighed and used the room she had now to get away from the cliff. She was panting heavily and wobbling more than walking. Taking four Outrages in a row and still standing was a feat she never knew she could accomplish, especially not if those four Outrages came from one of the most powerful dragons to currently exist. But the constant barrage of attacks left her weak and barely able to move. Should Drake break out of his icy prison it was over for her if a miracle did not occur. And, being calculating as she was, Riv did not believe in such things as miracles.

Indeed, the ice block Drake was trapped in cracked open and the Dragonite escaped from it, landing directly in front of Riv, giving the Absol a once over.

"Even the worst scars can't scar true beauty" he said and Riv could have sworn he was drooling while he said that. "Nothing less from my future wife. I think I'm starting to actually fall in love with you, Riv"

"Oh, Arceus no" Riv sighed while rolling her eyes. "I'd rather die than marrying you"

"It's such a shame" Drake shook his head. "But I think I have to comply with your wishes and kill you. That is the only way to get out of here, anyhow. But isn't this place nostalgic?"

"What do you mean?" Riv asked skeptically.

"This is the place where we were promised to each other" Drake explained. "Doesn't that make you feel sentimental?"  
>"Not in the least" Riv said with a disgusted look on her face. "I still hate both of our families for doing that"<p>

Drake ignored that last statement. "This is the perfect site for one of us to die, namely you" he announced. "Disappear from this world, Riv!"

Several amounts of blue energy gathered in the Dragonite's mouth as he was charging up his Dragon Pulse. Riv tried to run away, but fell over instead. "Damn" she cursed. "I can't move…" She looked at a blue orb forming in Drake's mouth, which would be the most likely cause of her death.

Suddenly, a giant V-shaped flame struck the Dragonite from the side, causing it to topple over and the Dragon Pulse to completely miss its mark.

"Tee hee" a cute voice giggled as a Victini with a pink spiral on her chest appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Vivi?!" Drake and Riv asked in unison.

"Hey, Riv" Vivi smiled gleefully at the Absol. "Long time no see"

Vivi, the Victini, wasted no further time and helped Riv stand. "Thank you" the Absol smiled happily at her childhood friend. "Where have you been all this time?"

"We can talk later" Vivi said and turned towards Drake. "Now, we have to kick some dragon butt!"

"Right" Riv agreed, having received power from the little rodent to help her move again.

"Impossible!" Drake shouted. "You should be working for us! Do you want Melody to get killed?"

"Nope" Vivi said, smirking gleefully. "Melody escaped and I followed her, so I could help Riv, my best friend. Since you and big ol' Kyurem left your hideout, we had an easy time doing it, so thanks" She winked cutely at the Dragonite, who got angry.

"My plan… my perfect plan… was foiled?" he asked. "No… I'll never accept it!" He charged at the two with Take Down. Both Pokémon dodged his attack with ease, Vivi used Inferno to trap Drake between countless pillars of fire, while Riv was throwing Shadow Balls at him. After getting hit a few times, Drake managed to finally escape by flying upwards and the coming back down for a Take Down attack. "Leave it to me!" Vivi shouted and flew towards him while using her Double-Edge attack. The two Pokémon clashed and were thrown in different directions. Vivi landed directly next to Riv, while Drake barely found his footing on the edge of the cliff leading to certain death. "Geh, so strong" he growled.

"This is not over yet" Riv slowly opened her eyes, a strong wind blowing from behind her. "Remember this, Drake?" she asked him. "When you thought this was just a fluke? You were wrong"

"This is…?" Drake saw the beam of psychic energy coming out of nowhere approaching him with great speed.

"Foresight" Riv announced as the psychic energy beam pierced Drake like a sword, sending him falling down the cliff and into the waves below.

"Well, I guess we got rid of that one" Vivi said as she looked down the cliff to check if Drake somehow managed to escape.

"Vivi, a thousand words won't be able to express my gratitude" Riv said with a smile.

"Nah, don't worry about it" Vivi smiled herself. "I'm glad I could finally help you, Riv. I had to work for Kyurem for a while, though… can you forgive me for that?"

"Of course" Riv said softly. "We're friends after all, right?"

"Right" Vivi said. "Now, let's go and help out your friends!" With that, she used Teleport on herself and Riv to transport the two of them to the last remaining battlefield, where Lance and the others were still fending off the Shadow Pokémon. Quite a few of the enemies had fallen already, but there were several more to go.

Lance and Vincent decided to fight the opponents from the air, with Vincent riding Lance and using his ice type attacks for surprise assaults and, combined with Drakes newly learned Draco Meteor, was able to diminish the enemies' forces quite a bit.

Cloud and Blaze were standing back to back surrounded by enemies, providing support for one another while Cold was sneaking around on the battlefield and picked off opponents that were not on their guard or severely weakened like an assassin would do. Luna and Luno were using their incredibly fast attacks and movement to prevent being swarmed by enemies and to provide support for Cold, Cloud and Blaze. They weakened opponents with their attacks so the others had an easier time killing them.

As Riv and Vivi joined in, Riv was assigned to help Cloud and Blaze and Vivi provided further aerial support while at the same time fighting enemies mid-air that Lance missed out on due to his concentration on his support job.

"We can win" Vincent said in disbelief. "We can really win this!"

"Well, we have to so we can go after Hunter fast" Lance said, burning an Unfezant with Flamethrower. "I'm sure he has engaged in combat with that Charizard already"

"I guess so, too" Vivi confirmed. "Charmer, the Black Phantom, said he was going on ahead because he 'had some business to take care of' when the Dragon Lords left the hideout"

"I see" Vincent said, nodding. "It's good to know you're on our side now"

"Why thank you" Vivi said with a smile so cute that Vincent could not help but blush as a reaction.

"Stop fooling around up there" Lance ordered. "We have a fight to focus on"

"Right" the other two nodded and continued their respective tasks.

…

Meanwhile, Hunter and Missy finally exited the forest and came into a clearing where a huge building made of stone stood. A large staircase led to the entrance of the pyramid-shaped building, statues of two mighty looking dragons, one resembling Zekrom, the other resembling a second dragon with a face very similar to a canine Pokémon such as Lucario. The Pokémon depicted was more slender and 'airy' as opposed to Zekrom's bulkiness. Missy and Hunter guessed that this was supposed to be Reshiram. They knew about Zekrom already, because their friends had told them about him and his sad fate and also that he had called out to Blaze after Kyurem absorbed him.

But another Pokémon drew their attention. In front of the building was Charmer, the Black Phantom, the last remaining Dragon Lord.

"Welcome to the temple of Truth and Ideals" he greeted the duo. "I must say, the two of you made it quite far after escaping The Under"

"Charmer…" Hunter growled, gritting his teeth.

"So that's him…" Missy thought to herself and looked at the black Charizard.

Both Pokémon knew that they had a hard battle ahead of them, but none of them was ready to falter and give up.

**Author's notes: That's it for this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next one!  
>Until then,<strong>

**Peace out!**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	23. Nemesis

**Author's notes: Oh yeah. The moment is here. Hunter finally meets his nemesis, the leader of the Five Great Dragon Lords Charmer, the Black Phantom (yeah, I love Charizards, so sue me). I could be mean and write an absolutely anti-climatic battle that no one wants to read or I could just be myself and use my wisdom and cunning to… uh… sorry, I lost it there for a bit. **

**I admit I am not quite as versed with the English language as some of the other authors on here, with English not being my native tongue and all, but I'm trying my hardest to not bore you guys to death. So yeah, I just thought I put this out there and hope all of you continue to support this story. On the same line, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, faved and followed this story for their continuous support and also I'd like to thank everyone for the awesome characters they sent in. Thanks to you, this story became my best yet and the most popular out of the stories I've written thus far. So, thank you guys!  
>And with that said, let's get on with the show!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Not yet anyway… Mwahahaha… (just kidding)**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 23: Nemesis**

"Welcome to the Temple of Truth and Ideals" Charmer greeted Hunter and Missy. "You've come a long way since you escaped The Under"

"Charmer" Hunter gritted his teeth.

"So that's him" Missy gulped down a huge lump that had formed in her throat. "The strongest of the Five Dragon Lords…"

"It seems the two of us are bound together by fate" Charmer commented. "To think you would be the one to challenge me. I suppose, this is about what I've done to your home village?"

"This is for what you've done to everyone!" Hunter shouted, his voice overflowing with rage and hatred. "You've made everyone in Pyrite Town live a life in misery for your own ends. You killed innocent souls to further Kyurem's desires, you brought darkness upon this world. For that, I shall kill you today!"

"It is true" Charmer admitted, tone still neutral. "I did all those things you accused me of. But it was for a higher purpose"

"Higher purpose?!" Hunter could not believe what he was hearing. "Murder is always murder, no matter what purpose it might serve"

"Don't you think you're contradicting yourself there?" Charmer asked. "You say that murder is always murder, no matter the purpose, but aren't you going to become a murderer yourself by saying you want to kill me and punish me for what I've done"

"I'm not saying that what I am doing is right" Hunter growled. "But what you did by far outweighs what I'm trying to do as far as badness is concerned!"

"I see" Charmer smiled. "You've made your resolve. That's good. But… if you defeat me, kill me even and then proceed to kill Kyurem and bring peace back to Orre and the world… can you bear with the fact you've sacrificed lives for your own end?"

"I don't care about that" Hunter roared and got ready to attack. "I'm fighting you right know because I want to avenge my parents. World peace can wait!"

"Hunter…" Missy stared at the Grovyle in shock. She noticed the deep hatred he held against Charmer flaring up in his eyes.

"So you didn't get rid of the darkness after all" Charmer shook his head in disappointment. "Even though you are not a Shadow Pokémon anymore… the darkness in your heart is still there"

"Stop spouting such nonsense!" Hunter screamed. "Fight me!" He rushed forward and slashed at Charmer with his Leaf Blade. The Charizard merely dodged the attack and Hunter only slashed air. "Such weakness" he commented and landed a few feet away. "It's decided. I'll let one of you proceed"

"What?" Hunter asked, surprised by this statement.

"Fighting two enemies at the same time just isn't my cup of tea" Charmer said. "I'll let you choose. Who of you goes ahead and who stays here and dies"

"Missy, go" Hunter ordered. "I'll take him"  
>"But, Hunter…" Missy was going to point out the obvious type disadvantage Hunter had against his foe.<p>

"GO!" the Grovyle spat angrily. "Go and awaken Reshiram. I'll take care of this guy"

Missy backed away a little, startled at the fact Hunter had yelled at her. "Good luck, Hunter" she finally said and rushed past the two into the temple.

"And so it was two" Charmer said and turned to Hunter. "If you want to get past me alive, you have to give it your all. With your life at stake… bring it on!" With that, the Charizard unleashed a powerful Fire Blast from his mouth. But something about the flames was different: they were black instead of orange. Hunter jumped to the side to avoid the attack, but the scale of the Fire Blast was too high and it hit his hind leg, causing a good amount of damage. Hunter roared in pain and fell to the ground, but quickly jumped to his feet again, opening his mouth to fire a barrage of Bullet Seeds at Charmer, who used one of his wings to deflect the attack, completely nullifying the damage. Then his claws on his hands started to glow in an unsettling purple hue. He flew up in the air and quickly approached Hunter with his claws outstretched. The Grovyle, now blind with rage, instead of dodging, let the leaves on his arms glow and form into a green scythe-shaped blade. Then he rushed towards Charmer and slashed at him with his Leaf Blade, managing to damage the Charizard's left wing a little, but he himself ended up heavily injured, with the deep scratches across his stomach. Hunter fell to his knees and panted, while Charmer casually checked on the damage Hunter had caused to his wing. It was just a minor scratch and nothing he had to particularly worry about, but something about Hunter's attack struck the Charizard as weird.

"He really has potential" Charmer said to himself and smiled lightly, then he looked at Hunter, who was standing up again, shaking slightly and panting.

"Your attacks are powerful, but they lack something" Charmer berated the Grovyle.

"Don't give me that crap" Hunter growled.

"You lose yourself to your hatred" Charmer said. "And that's why you will never beat me or Kyurem. You're losing your purpose, Hunter. And that greatly weakens you. Your Leaf Blade could have easily damaged my wing in a way that I couldn't use it anymore, that's the power it has, but… your attack lacked what's really important. You're forgetting the thing you've been fighting for all this time".

"What do you know about me?" Hunter screamed in frustration and rushed at Charmer with yet another Leaf Blade. The Charizard sighed and repelled Hunter with a powerful Dragon Tail, sending him flying and landing on his back. Barely able to stand up, Hunter gave Charmer a death glare.

"I told someone before that if you lacked a purpose, you'd never be able to get stronger" Charmer explained, his voice expressing shocking kindness. "So the same holds true; if you lose your purpose… you get weaker. That Leaf Blade before had no power whatsoever. Even a Magikarp's Tackle attack would have had more power than this. In this state, you'll be unable to beat me, Hunter, let alone put as much as a scratch on Kyurem. Remember what's truly important to you"

"What do you want?" Hunter finally asked. "Why do you say these things to me? You're my arch-nemesis, the one I have to kill! The one that killed my parents and all the people in my village! So why are you telling me all this?"

"Once, there was a Charmander with a strange coloration" Charizard started to explain. "Due to this and the fact he spew black flames instead of normal ones, the others shunned him and made fun of him. Seeking revenge, he trained day and night until total exhaustion, but he couldn't get any stronger. The more he lost himself, the more his powers faded away. When he realized, it was too late. The Shadow Pokémon came and destroyed the town he was born in, killing everyone in it. For the first time in his life, the Charmander noticed that revenge was not his path to take. Searching for a way, a purpose in his life, he grew stronger and eventually evolved. By the time he found his purpose, he had evolved into a black Charizard and became the strongest out of the Five Great Dragon Lords and the most trusted servant of the Dragon Emperor, fulfilling his every wish. That Charmander was me"

"So now I know the story of your life, great" Hunter said sarcastically. "Your point?"

"My point is the same thing I've told you before" Charmer said. "The both of us are similar in ways. You didn't live your life dedicated to revenge until you found out it was me who killed your parents. And you grew stronger because you had a goal to achieve, something greater than revenge. If you find that again, you can grow immensely powerful. But as you are now, you are but a flea"

He opened his mouth and launched another Fire Blast at Hunter, who again could not dodge the attack, but instead was hit dead on. He was thrown to the ground and continued to lie there, not being able to move. His vision slowly fading, he saw Charmer standing over him.

"Is it true?" he asked himself in his thoughts. "Have I really… lost my purpose? Lost myself to revenge and hatred? If so… what was my purpose?"

One after the other, images of his friends started appearing in front of him. He saw Cloud and Lance bravely fighting off Shadow Pokémon alongside him, he saw Riv happily discussing battle strategies with him, he saw Blaze bragging about how awesome she was, he saw Cold grinning at whatever prank he had pulled. And he saw Lava and Heat, who peacefully slept in her back fur, he saw Luna playing around and Luno sleeping nearby, he saw how Vincent was followed by a bunch of male Pokémon and screaming that he clearly was not a girl and finally he saw Missy happily smiling at him.

"This is it" Hunter thought. "This is what I want… a world where my friends and everyone else can live freely and in peace. This is the future I desire… and to create this future… is my purpose"

Hunter's body began glowing as his leaves on his arms started shaping themselves into giant scythe-like blades, glowing in a mysterious blue. The Grovyle stood up.

Charmer took a few steps back. "They say 'when a warrior awakens to his true purpose, he will be granted the power of the legendary blade'" he thought to himself. "It seems that prophecy came true in the end"

"Prepare yourself, Charmer!" Hunter growled and rushed toward the Charizard readying his new attack to strike at the right moment. The Black Phantom smiled, but did not do anything else, letting the attack strike him full force. Roaring in pain, the Charizard fell to the ground, defeated.

Hunter's leaves took their normal shape again as he looked upon the Charizard's body. "Mother, father… I have avenged your deaths" Hunter thought to himself. "But… I wasn't fighting for revenge right now" He stared at the leaves on his arms. "What kind of attack was that? This power… I think I've seen it before… but where? Oh, I know. That Samurott… he used a similar attack. What did he call it, 'Sacred Sword'? Oh well, it's no use to ponder on that now. I have to make sure Missy is safe" With that, Hunter entered the temple of Truth and Ideals.

Meanwhile, Missy arrived at an altar inside of the temple. The way towards it was lined with torches and the altar itself was halfway black and halfway white in colour. On the black side of the altar was a white, round rock, the white side was empty, but it had a device that seemed to be made to hold something, maybe another rock similar to the one on the left black side.

Missy was somehow mesmerized by the white rock and unable to take her eyes off of it. A loud voice suddenly appeared in her head.

"_Show me your truth_" the voice spoke. Missy looked around with a shocked expression, then she noticed that the white rock had begun to glow. "I'm here because I wish for Kyurem to be gone and for everyone to live in peace once again"

"_Very well, then. I shall aid you in your quest to make your truth into reality_"

The white rock suddenly started floating and absorbing energy from everywhere. The torches were suddenly put out, leaving the rock as the only source of light.

In the meantime, Vincent brought down the last of their opponents. Everyone was sitting on the ground, resting. The surrounding area was covered in corpses.

"We did it" Lance sighed in relief.

"And nobody died" Blaze added. "That's good, I guess"

"It really is" Riv agreed and looked around. "Aside from our enemies, that is"

"Who cares if they're dead or not?" Lance asked. "We had to kill them to win"

"But in the end, they themselves were just victims" Heat said. "I'm sure none of them wanted to be a Shadow Pokémon"

"I'm just happy we all survived" Vincent said with a light smile plastered on his face.

"Me too" Cold agreed. "But we still have two of our friends to worry about"

"Right, Hunter and Missy are still out there" Blaze said. "You think they've found that temple already?"

"I don't know" Cloud replied. "But I'm sure they're well. Hunter always has his ways to get out of sticky situations"

"Both of them are fine, don't worry" a small feminine humanoid figure, who suddenly appeared, said with a smile. It had a green sash wrapped around its waist and green hair, matching its eye colour. It seemed to be wearing a black dress and had a black microphone-like thing attached to its head. Its slender arms were playfully folded behind its head.

"Melody!" Vivi called out and happily hugged the Pokémon.

"I'm glad to see you too" Melody said happily. "How've you been?"

"I'm good" Vivi said. "I finally met my friend Riv again" She floated toward the Absol and hugged her.

"Who is this?" Lance asked and pointed at the little Pokémon.

"This is Melody, also known as the Pokémon Meloetta" Vivi introduced the Pokémon.

"Meloetta?" Luno asked. "That's Meloetta?"

"What about her?" Luna asked with a confused expression.

"It is said that Meloetta's song can drive off the darkness in other Pokémon's hearts, similar to what Celebi used to do at the shrine in Agathe Village" Luno explained.

"Yup" Melody confirmed with a nod. "That's me. And that's why Kyurem had me locked up all the time so I couldn't foil his plans"

"I see" Lance said.

"You all look so exhausted" Melody said with sadness in her eyes. "Wait a second, I'll heal you" She started to sing a song that soothed the minds of Lance and the others and at the same time healed their injuries.

"Wow, that was beautiful" Cloud commented.

"It was almost as amazing as me" Blaze agreed.  
>"You never stop, do you?"<p>

"Nope"

The others started lauging.

"Anyway" Riv started after their laughter was over. "We have to go where Hunter and Missy are fast"

"Oh, I can take you there" Melody happily offered. "I watched Hunter fight Charmer, the Black Phantom. It seems he won" Everyone was visibly relieved at hearing this.

"Follow me!" Melody said and led the group in the direction of the Temple of Truth and Ideals.

Unbeknownst to them, another Shadow was quickly approaching…

**Author's notes: And that concludes the fights against the Dragon Lords. Well? How did you like it? I'd like to know your opinion in a review, if you want. Anyway, I hope you'll look forward to the next chapter.**

**Peace out,**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	24. Fusion of Black And White

**Author's notes: We're slowly approaching the grand finale of this story. Well, well, let's see how this turns out, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 24: Fusion of Black and White**

Energy was still gathering around the white rock that slowly grew bigger and turned into a swirling sphere of energy. Missy could only stare in awe as a dragon-like figure started to emerge from the energy sphere. The dragon was pure white with the exceptions of its clear blue eyes. As opposed to most of the other dragons, this dragon actually had fur and canine features which were especially prominent on its face. Its tail looked like a fusion of a turbine and a torch. It let loose a howl and landed in front of Missy.

"A-are you… Reshiram?" Missy asked the titanic creature in front of her.

"Yes, I am" the creature said with a feminine voice. "I responded to your heart seeking truth and awakened thanks to this. You do not need to explain anything, I know full well what is going on in the world. Kyurem is set to destroy it and has done everything in his power to accumulate more of said thing. I also know that he absorbed Zekrom, my brother and counterpart"

"That's why we came to find you" Missy explained. "We need your help to defeat Kyurem and save the world"

Reshiram nodded slowly. "I know that already, as well" she said. "I know you and your friends have the ambition to bring peace back to a world scarred with war. I will lend you my powers"

"I thank you" Missy said humbly. "You sure give us hope, Reshiram" She smiled at the white dragon.

"Missy!" she heard a voice calling from behind her. Missy turned around to see Hunter rushing into the temple and towards her, his body covered in bruises and scars from his previous battle.

"Missy, are you okay?" he asked, while trying to catch his breath.

"I'm fine" Missy said and looked away, still remembering how he had yelled at her.

Hunter noticed this. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling earlier" he apologized. "I lost myself back there and… I didn't mean to yell at you"

"It's okay" Missy slowly said and looked at Hunter, then back at Reshiram. "Oh, yeah. Hunter. I'd like you to meet Reshiram"

The Grovyle looked up at the white dragon and was immediately awestruck. "THAT is Reshiram?" he asked. "Wow…"

"You're Hunter, right?" Reshiram asked. "The one that awakened to his true purpose and was granted the Sacred Sword?"

"So that attack really was the Sacred Sword?" Hunter asked himself in his thoughts, thinking back to his final attack against Charmer, the Black Phantom.

"I guess so" he then said.

"Then you are the key to destroying Kyurem for good" Reshiram said.  
>"What do you mean?" Missy asked.<p>

"The Sacred Sword is actually the only existing attack that can kill Kyurem" Reshiram explained. "I do not know the reason myself, but it is passed down that the source of Kyurem's defeat is that legendary blade. Ancient legends of Unova tell about four great heroes, known as the Sacred Swordsmen, who in the past banished Kyurem and his powers, leaving him as a shell of his former self. Robbed off his powers, Kyurem swore revenge on the world and to be complete again"

"Complete?" Hunter asked curiously.

"In the past, Zekrom, Kyurem and me were one and the same being" Reshiram explained. "Kyurem was our main mind and the one acting everything out. With the combined elements of fire, thunder and ice we were renowned as one of the most powerful dragon Pokémon to have ever existed. But one day, we lost control of our immense powers and went on a rampage. Our power was so great that no one could stand up to us. That's when the four swordsmen appeared. Four heroes, possessing the blessing of the Sacred Sword, fought bravely against us and won by splitting us apart. That's how Zekrom and I came into being. Weakened from the fight, we turned to stone and slept from then on. Kyurem, however, didn't transform into a stone. Instead, he transformed into what could be called a zombie. With his crippled body and injured soul, incomplete and shunned, Kyurem soon turned into a broken existence. And ultimately, he lost his mind and set out for revenge. He sought to return Zekrom and myself to him to become the ultimate dragon once again and then proceed to destroy the world that left him an empty shell of his former self. It seems he found Zekrom's Dark Stone already and returned him. It certainly won't be long before Kyurem seeks me out as well, aiming to return me to his body as well. If that happens, he will be complete again"

"You and Zekrom have no influence on him?" Hunter asked. "If that's the case, why could Zekrom hinder Kyurem's movements for a bit?"

"What?" Reshiram looked at the Grovyle with a shocked expression.

"My friends fought Kyurem before" Hunter explained. "They told me that, when he fused with Zekrom, Zekrom was able to block Kyurem's movements for a moment"

"Which means that since Zekrom and I have become minds of our own, we can eventually gain control of Kyurem's mind" Reshiram lit up. "That brings hope to us. If we can somehow help Zekrom overtake Kyurem's body, we could destroy him while he's immobilized. Though, that will surely come at a high price"

"What do you mean?" Missy asked.

"Zekrom might die along with Kyurem, since their bodies became one" Reshiram said, crushing the somewhat light mood completely. "But I am pretty sure that that would be a sacrifice he is willing to make. And I would, too"

"What do you mean by that?" Hunter asked.

"Kyurem has taken over Zekrom's mind" Reshiram replied. "Even with sufficient willpower, it will be very hard for him to escape Kyurem's grasp to help us. Even harder when we are considering the fact that Zekrom can't hear us. This is why I'll be letting myself get absorbed by Kyurem and search for Zekrom's mind, then tell him about our plan. If we get the timing right, you, Hunter, might be able to destroy Kyurem with your Sacred Sword. There is one flaw to this, however. No, actually there are two: first, Kyurem will be very careful after absorbing me, so I will need you and your friends to distract him by fighting him with all you've got. And the second one…"  
>"If we destroy Kyurem while Zekrom and you are still inside, you'll get killed as well" Missy concluded. Reshiram slowly nodded.<p>

"But as I said, it's a sacrifice I am willing to make" she said. "And I'm sure Zekrom is as well"

"This isn't fair" Hunter suddenly said, shaking his head. "We only seek peace, is that so bad? Is it so bad that we have to actually sacrifice lives for it? That we kill for it? Make murderers of ourselves under the pretense of a better world?"

"Hunter…" Missy looked at her friend with a worried expression.

"Is this really the only way, Reshiram?" Hunter then asked the white dragon, who nodded slowly. "It is" she confirmed. "Since Kyurem already absorbed Zekrom. And the fact that you are not as powerful as a legendary Pokémon also does not help our cause"

"So it's my fault?" Hunter asked, looking downward. "Just like back then, I'm not strong enough… If I were, I could destroy Kyurem without needing to sacrifice the two of you. DAMN IT!" Hunter punched a wall with his bare fist, tears of anger flowing down his face as the painful memory of Chikorita's death surfaced again.

"That is were you are mistaken" Reshiram said, trying to calm the Grovyle down. "Since Zekrom is already a part of Kyurem, killing Kyurem without also killing Zekrom is impossible by now"

"I don't want to, but I slowly begin to understand that Reshiram's plan is the only way to defeat Kyurem" Missy said sadly. "Hunter. What do you say?"

"This wretched beast has cost us enough lives already" Hunter said. "Kyurem has to pay for his deeds. And if we let things be the way they are, Kyurem will proceed killing until no one is left to oppose him… every single one of our friends will die. And it doesn't stop there"

"And being taken over by Kyurem in his current mental state is worse than death, I imagine" Reshiram said. "If I were in Zekrom's place, I'd wish to be killed to be freed from his control"

"We're going with your plan, Reshiram" the Grovyle then concluded, his face showing determination to finally bring peace back to the world. "Though under my personal protest. Reshiram, I promise you… if we find a way to destroy Kyurem while also being able to save Zekrom and you, we'll go with that instead"

"I assure you, there is none" Reshiram said.

Suddenly, the entire temple started shaking and the roof was blasted open. Ominous winds started howling and blowing through the temple of Truth and Ideals and from the pitch-black clouds in the sky, BlackKyurem descended and landed in front of Hunter, Missy and Reshiram.

"This is how we meet again, Reshiram" BlackKyurem roared and activated his Overdrive Mode, ready to fight Reshiram if necessary.

"What is that?" Missy asked, shocked by Kyurem's appearance.

"That's Kyurem's true form, missing my parts" Reshiram explained. "That's BlackKyurem. Stand back, you two. I'll take him on"

"Are you sure?" Hunter asked and got himself ready to battle also.

"You two must escape from here" Reshiram said. "I'll cover your retreat"

"Don't bother, Reshiram" Kyurem said while grinning and slowly regressed back to his original single state, missing the black parts of his body. "I'll have to be in this form to absorb you, anyway"

The ice on his wings slowly started to break and shatter, leaving them as two extensions of battered gray skin. The ice thorns on both wings remained however. Kyurem positioned them so that they were pointing at Reshiram. "Now, Reshiram" Kyurem grinned madly underneath his icy mask. "Are you ready to rejoin me and help me regain my power?"

"Not in a million years, Kyurem" Reshiram howled and spread her wings. "Hunter, Missy. I mean it. Get out of here while you still have the chance"

"We won't leave you alone here, Reshiram" Missy protested. Hunter agreed with a nod and attacked Kyurem, who effortlessly smashed him into the floor. "Weak" he muttered, turning his attention back at Reshiram. "Such a shame that a beauty like you can't be free forever" he mockingly said. "But all is nothing against my reason. The reason of an ultimate being!"

"Megalomania certainly suits you, Kyurem" Reshiram said and rose up into the air, launching a Flamethrower at Kyurem, who dodged by jumping away. "It's useless to escape" Kyurem roared and the thorns on his wings began glowing purple. "Soon, you'll be one with me, Reshiram".

"We'll see about that!" a loud voice came from the distance and Kyurem barely dodged a powerful Dragon Pulse coming from that direction, closely followed by a Night Slash from a female Absol that also missed due to Kyurem's dodging.

"Lance! Riv!" Hunter greeted as the Salamence, the Absol and all of their other friends came rushing into the temple.

"We finally caught up with you, Kyurem!" Vivi shouted, pointing at the ice dragon. "Today, your end has come!"

"Right on!" Blaze joined in. "We will kick your sorry ass once and for all"

"Look at that" Kyurem grinned with amusement. "The whole gang has gathered here for the moment of my triumph"

Kyurem jumped onto a ledge, shooting beams of purple energy at Reshiram, who tried to dodge but could not.

"Got you!" Kyurem roared as the beams of energy wrapped around Reshiram, trapping her. "Damn it!" Hunter shouted.

"Don't forget about the plan" Reshiram said as she was regressed back to her stone state and absorbed into Kyurem's body, which was soon surrounded by a sphere of flames, soon followed by electricity. "Now you shall witness my true power!" Kyurem roared as the sphere got slowly bigger and rose up into the sky. The clouds above the temple where starting to shape a vortex and started to glow blood red.

"What's happening?" Missy asked.

"Kyurem returns to his complete form" Melody answered. "The ultimate dragon that shaped Unova… UltimateKyurem!"

The sphere dissipated, giving the friends a look on what had happened only moments before. The massive fortress-sized dragon Pokémon floating above them looked almost unreal. It had half the face of BlackKyurem, the other half was his other form WhiteKyurem's face with a long, wavy tuft of fur extending from the head crest. Its neck was covered in white fur which reached down to the chest area. Its shoulder plates and wings were from BlackKyurem as well, spikes protruding out in the back. Its right arm was BlackKyurem's right arm, its left arm was more slender and had Reshiram's wing extending from it. Its knees were covered in ice, while its feet were a slightly darker shade of grey, with the middle toes made of ice. Its tail started off as a torch-like appendage which extended into a twisted black turbine, which started to glow blue, as did parts of the right arm. From the back, wires started to extend behind the spikes, red and blue in colour. The blue ones were inserted into the turbine, causing it to spin, while the red wires inserted into the torch, causing it to glow red and occasionally spit fire. The feather-like appendage on its arm also started to glow red, as did the long and wavy tuft of fur. The Pokémon let out a roar which was menacing to everyone witnessing it. It somewhat resembled BlackKyurem's strong dinosaur roar, but with elements of Reshiram's howling mixed into it.

"Oh my Arceus" Cloud blurted out. "We're supposed to fight THAT?!"

"Do we even stand a chance?" Riv asked.

"Nope, we're screwed" Cold said bluntly. "Completely and totally screwed"

"And here I was hoping that I didn't commit passive suicide when I joined up with you guys" Luno said flatly. "Guess I was wrong"

"Not exactly a time to be joking around, is it?" Luna said with an unusually serious tone in her voice.

UltimateKyurem roared once again, blowing the entire temple away, leaving a desolate, open field.

"NOW DESPAIR, POKÈMON WORLD!" UltimateKyurem announced. "FOR I, ULTIMATEKYUREM, HAVE RETURNED TO DESTROY YOU!"

**Author's notes: If this was a video game, everyone would be going WTF by now. Oh, well. There it is! A little idea that took root in my head when I started this story out: meet UltimateKyurem, the dragon that is born when you fuse Yin, Yang and Wuji (which are represented by Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem respectively) together. I also made a sprite some time ago, you can view it by entering the following into your browser:**

** art/Ultimate-Kyurem-Overdrive-Mode-Sprite-31589969 0**

**I can tell you, this thing took a damn chunk of time back then, but I hope my description above enlightens you at least a bit. So, we'll (hopefully) see a conclusion in the next chapter! Until then,**

**Peace out!**

**- Shining4Charizard**


	25. The Power of Darkness

**Author's notes: Sorry for not updating in such a long time... damn. It almost feels like forever. This chapter took a while to do because I paid extra attention to the pace. So, here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon and yada, yada, yada…**

**The Adventures of Hunter Chapter 25: The Power of Darkness**

"This is… the original dragon that shaped Unova…" Melody stared at Kyurem in shock. "All hope is lost…"

"Indeed" Vivi agreed. "This thing is too strong, even for me".

"I guess that's my line" Blaze gulped at the sight of the chimera-like being floating above them.

"But if we don't defeat it here, we can never deliver peace to the world" Hunter growled and got into a battle stance. "We'll save our world or die trying!".

"Well said!" Lance agreed and roared. "We have to take him out. Let's go!"

He flew up in the air and launched a powerful flamethrower at Kyurem, who simply dodged and retaliated with Dragon Pulse. Lance tried to dodge, but the attack still struck him full force. The Salamence was thrown into the ground. Kyurem landed and roared, unleashing a stream of fire, which formed into an orb above his head. He threw the orb at Hunter and his friends. Blaze and Heat were the first to react and used their Fire Blast attacks to repel the Fusion Flare, while Vincent and Cold used Icy Wind to slow down Kyurem's movements. The dragon was however unfazed by their ice moves and launched a Hyper Beam at them, which knocked them back a few yards, leaving them on the ground.

"Damn it" Cloud gritted his teeth, "none of our attacks are working"

"We have to try harder" Riv said and fired a Shadow Ball from her mouth. Cloud followed up with an Aura Sphere. The two attacks combined, creating a blue energy orb with purple to black bolts flashing around it. Kyurem just growled and used his right BlackKyurem arm to smash the orb away from him and back at its users. Riv and Cloud dodged.

Meanwhile, Vivi, along with Missy got behind Kyurem and created an Inferno, which surrounded the powerful dragon. Missy used her psychic powers to keep the flames in place.

"NOW!" Vivi shouted and urged her comrades to use their attacks on Kyurem. Lance started off with Flamethrower, Blaze and Heat followed up with Fire Blast, Cloud used his Aura Sphere, Luna and Luno both used their Bullet Seeds, Riv launched another Shadow Ball, Cold and Vincent jumped on Lance's back and used their Icy Wind attacks from there. Hunter jumped up as well and fired Bullet Seed from his mouth at Kyurem. Vivi let the flames close in on Kyurem while Missy switched to Psybeam, striking the dragon in the back. Melody let out a deafening Hyper Voice attack, spurring Vivis flames on, which got larger through the wind added to them.

The attacks hit Kyurem straight on and created a large explosion.

"We got him!" Blaze exclaimed happily.  
>"Not quite" Cloud shook his head. "I can still see his aura"<p>

"But all our attacks together have to have dealt some damage" Vincent said.

"This is UltimateKyurem we're talking about" Vivi said.

"We mustn't get overconfident" Melody agreed.

"Here it comes" Hunter shouted as he noticed Kyurem flying up in the air, roaring angrily and much to the horror of Hunter and his friends completely unharmed.  
>"All of our attacks weren't working?" Lance asked in disbelief. "How in the world are we supposed to beat this thing?!"<p>

"If our plan works, we should be fine" Missy said.

"What plan?" Cloud asked.

"Reshiram has let herself get absorbed by Kyurem" Hunter replied. "She did that because she and Zekrom might be able to immobilize Kyurem long enough for us to defeat him"

"But for that to work, we have to distract Kyurem long enough for Reshiram to tell Zekrom about our plan" Missy added. "That's why it's not that bad that we can't deal damage to him. The only one who can is Hunter, anyway, because he can use the Sacred Sword"

"Hunter is able to use Sacred Sword?!" Melody suddenly asked. "But how?"

"We don't have time for this now" Hunter interrupted. "Kyurem's attacking!"

They noticed that Kyurem had opened his mouth and a stream of blue fire came out of it.

"Damn, it's too late!" Lance shouted. The flames were way too fast to try and dodge them.

"This is Reshiram's attack… Blue Flare" Vivi explained. "If this hits us, we're dead"

"What can we do?!" Riv asked, but before anyone could answer, the flames suddenly dissipated.

"WHY YOU…" Kyurem growled as his body started to shake violently.

"It seems that Reshiram and Zekrom succeeded" Hunter said with a light smile on his face.

"They stopped him from using the attack" Melody sighed in relief. "If only we could save them"

At that, Hunter's face fell. There was no way to save them. Reshiram had confirmed this numerous times and Hunter had to agree. Trying to save Reshiram and Zekrom was out of the question. "But if we have any doubts now… we'll never be able to fulfill their wishes" he added in his mind. Then he focused his mind on his ambitions and friends, trying to convert those wishes into power. The leaves on his wrists started to glow light blue and turned into monstrous, scythe-like blades.

"That's exactly like our Leaf Blades" Luno said. "But why are they that big?"  
>"That's the Sacred Sword" Melody replied. "I never thought I'd see it again"<p>

"SO THE RUMOR WAS TRUE…" Kyurem roared and tried to attack Hunter, who rushed at him, but his body still would not listen to his will. "DAMN YOU, RESHIRAM AND ZEKROM!"

"This is it!" Hunter shouted, jumped up in the air and used both of his blades to slash Kyurem across the chest. Kyurem roared in pain and fell to the ground.

Hunter landed in front of him and was forced to his knees. "Damn it…" he huffed. "This Sacred Sword uses too much power. But this should do…" He looked at Kyurem, who groaned at stood back up. There were two large scratches across his chest and belly.

"SO YOU REALLY ARE ABLE TO USE THE SACRED SWORD?!" Kyurem asked and then chuckled. "IT SEEMS LIKE IT EXHAUSTS YOU A BIT. THIS IS NOTHING PERSONAL, BUT I'M AFRAID I HAVE TO END YOUR MISERABLE EXISTANCE NOW" He rose up one foot, letting it hover above Hunter, who at the moment was unable to move. "How did he regain control over his body?" Hunter asked himself while looked up at his imminent death.

"HUNTER!" Missy cried out and started to rush forward, but Cloud held her back.

"There's nothing we can do for him now" he said sadly.

But as soon as Kyurem wanted to stomp Hunter to death, his body started acting up again. "WHAT?!" he asked in shock as he toppled over.

"Run, Hunter!" Heat signaled and Hunter finally managed to stand back up and run away before Kyurem could fall on him.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked worriedly.  
>"I'm okay" Hunter nodded. "The Sacred Sword uses too much power, though. I can't quite handle it yet. I only have power left for one more at most"<p>

"That isn't good" Lance said. "We only have this chance of killing Kyurem. If this fails, we're ended"

"We have to bet our all on this last card" Luno said sternly. "We have no other choice"

"He's right" Hunter agreed. "I'll give it one more try while Kyurem is still immobilized"

He let his leaves glow again, but this time, his Sacred Sword disappeared immediately. Hunter cried in pain and fell to his knees. "I… I can't…" he coughed.

"Hunter…" Missy looked at the Grovyle with a worried expression.

"It seems he pushed himself over the edge" Melody explained. "He has no power left in him"

Much to everyone's horror, Kyurem groaned again.

"IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'VE LOST YOUR ONLY TRUMP CARD" Kyurem chuckled as he stood back up, having regained control over his body.

"Damn it!" Lance cursed. "What can we do now?"  
>"We have to hold him off until Hunter has regained his powers" Vincent said. "It's the only way"<br>"I agree" Cold nodded slowly.

"THERE'S NO NEED FOR THAT" Kyurem roared and the sky darkened even further. "SOON, THIS WORLD WILL END!" A large black crystal suddenly descended from the middle of the blood red vortex in the sky. It was about twice as big as Kyurem's original form.

A cold shiver went down everyone's spine.

"What is that?" Cloud asked and stared at the black crystal in shock.

"That can't be…" Melody stared at the object in disbelief. "That is the Shadow Crystal! While the war between humans and Pokémon were still going on, this thing absorbed all the hatred and power of the fallen, ultimately becoming more powerful than even Arceus himself! Due to all the hatred it absorbed, the dark power inside of it was enough to create a storm that could destroy the world; the Gale of Darkness! Kyurem used the Crystal's power and immense hatred stored in there as a catalyst to forcefully create Shadow Pokémon"

"So this thing is what created the Gale of Darkness?" Hunter asked, still weakened. Melody nodded. "If Kyurem absorbs its power, it will be impossible to stop him" she concluded.

Kyurem flew up toward the Shadow Crystal, a dark purple aura coming from it and slowly surrounding Kyurem as he was pulled towards it. "THIS POWER IS MINE NOW!" he roared and started to laugh like a maniac as the Shadow Crystal was absorbed into his body, wrapping a black sphere around UltimateKyurem. When the sphere disappeared, Hunter and his group stared in shock at what Kyurem had become. He became a black shadow with glowing red eyes, though still with the silhouette of UltimateKyurem.

The black shadow that was once Kyurem stared at the friends, who knew that now, all hope for them was lost.

Kyurem started to summon a bunch of black meteors from the sky, bombarding the battlefield with them. The Dark Draco Meteor was impossible to dodge and a large explosion wrapped around the entire battlefield.

…

_Hunter slowly opened his eyes and found himself floating in a vast white nothingness. No one else was around, the space lacked a floor and ceiling, it was just pure white and empty._

"_Where is this place?" Hunter asked himself and slowly looked around. "Am I really…?" Pondering on the thought of him dying in Kyurem's last Draco Meteor attack, he started smiling bitterly. "Not once, not twice… no… three times" he said to himself. "Three times I have tried to save someone close to me and three times I have failed… the first time was Rita, my friend from my childhood… the second was my parents and now… my friends… Missy… I have failed them… through my weakness they died. And I died along with them, not able to live up to the honor given to me by them… I am a failure. I have failed everyone close to me…"_

"_That's not true!" a clear voice suddenly called out to him. To Hunter, this voice seemed strangely familiar, yet distant. As if he had heard it before, but this 'before' had been a long time ago._

"_Who… who's there?" Hunter asked and pulled himself upright. Suddenly, he felt like someone or something touched his cheek. Who or whatever it was, it warmed his heart and again, that feeling was familiar. Slowly, but surely, he could make out the shapes of a Chikorita, which touched his cheek with its leaf._

"_Rita? Is that… you?!" Hunter asked in disbelief as he saw his childhood friend standing right in front of him. _

"_You evolved, but you're still the same" Rita smiled softly. "You never changed, Hunter"_

"_Rita…" tears started flowing down Hunter's cheeks, moistening the leaf Rita touched them with. "You have no idea how much I missed you…"_

"_I know" the Chikorita still smiled at him. "I missed you, too. Death was pretty lonely and I would love to be together with you again, but I guess that has to wait a bit longer"_

"_What do you mean?" Hunter asked in confusion. "I died, right?"_

"_No" Rita slowly shook her head. "You aren't dead… at least not in a traditional sense of death. Your will still clings to life, but your soul was separated from your body and brought here"_

"_How do you know all these things?" Hunter shook his own head in disbelief, as Rita removed her leaf from his cheek._

"_Do you still remember why I died?" she asked. Hunter looked at her, not knowing what to say.  
>"You… were sick" he finally managed to say. "You had an unknown disease since childhood that would eventually kill you. I still remember that day… I was so powerless…"<em>

"_It was not like you could save me in the first place" Rita said softly. "My early death was sealed ever since I was born. The promise you made to me… you couldn't have fulfilled it even if you tried. Don't take the blame for it, Hunter. This wasn't your fault"_

"_But I promised" Hunter shouted. "I promised I'd keep you alive somehow… but I couldn't"_

"_You made another promise to me, remember?" Rita suddenly asked. "You promised that you'd find a way to bring peace back to this world after you've grown a lot stronger. This promise was actually made on the moment of our first meeting"_

"_I do remember it" Hunter said. "The world was in chaos even back then. Both you and me lost our fathers to war and I wanted to change that. I didn't want any more Pokémon to suffer this fate. But I broke even that promise to you. Kyurem was too strong. I didn't stand a chance. I never did. Even with the Sacred Sword. It should have been a killing blow… so why could he recover from that?"_

"_Hunter, believe it or not but ever since I died, I watched over you" Rita explained. "I saw everything that was going on until now. ShadowKyurem, as the creature you've fought before is named, is way stronger than Kyurem alone, but… he lacks a sentient mind, thus effectively weakening him"_

"_What?" Hunter asked, surprised at Rita's knowledge. "He's actually weaker than before?"_

_Rita nodded. "He completely lost control of his powers" she explained. "His attacks might have gotten stronger, but they are completely unfocused. He's just firing them out everywhere and nowhere"_

"_That means there is still hope" Hunter concluded. "But… I died. And even if I lived, I'd probably be quite weak by now… I can't even use the Sacred Sword"_

"_Leave that to me" Rita said, winking at him. "Even though I'm just a spirit, I might be able to help you from here"_

"_Rita… what are you saying?" Hunter did not believe a word from her. _

"_The reason I died was because I had a special power too potent for my living body to subdue it. It eventually was too much for me to handle" Rita explained. "But now that I'm a ghost in a sense, I can use this power to help you and your friends"_

"_So the reason you died was not an illness?" Hunter asked. Rita nodded as a reply. _

"_It's time, Hunter" she said. "You have to finish this"_

"_Right" Hunter nodded._

…

Hunter's hand twitched as he slowly got up. He looked around and found his surroundings to be completely obliterated, but his friends and himself were miraculously unharmed and he knew that Rita had to have something to do with that. But strangely, Melody was missing.

Not pondering on that too much, Hunter turned towards Kyurem, who was mindlessly attacking his surroundings with black ice beams, thunderbolts and flamethrowers.

"That bastard" Cloud grunted. "He's going to destroy everything"

"Not if we can stop him" Hunter said with determination. "We can do it this time"

"Yeah, we'll save the world!" Luna shouted.

"Strange… I've never felt this powerful before" Riv said. "I'm up to any challenge"

The others gave words of motivation as well, before they got ready for their final battle against ShadowKyurem.

"Rita… this time, I'll keep my promise" Hunter said and a bright light started to envelop him. Inside this light, he got noticeably taller. The leaf on his head vanished, the two leaves that made up his tail turned into an actual tail with a strong resemblance to a tree and the leaves on his wrists turned into two straight blade-like leaves each. He had evolved into a Sceptile.

"Reshiram! Zekrom!" he shouted out towards Kyurem. "Can you hear me?!"

"We… can…!" came the combined voice of Reshiram and Zekrom from Kyurem's mouth. "Attack! Now!" Kyurem suddenly rose up in the air, reverting back to UltimateKyurem, causing the black clouds to vanish. Reshiram and Zekrom started to emerge from Kyurem's body, each sticking out left and right.

"HUNTER! NOW!" Reshiram shouted.

The leaves on Hunter's wrists started to glow brightly and reshaped into two monstrous blades. "Help me out, guys!" Hunter pleaded.

"Right" the others agreed and used their attacks on Hunters blades, which were strengthened even further. Lances Flamethrower was combined with Cold's and Vincent's Icy Wind attacks, Missy's Psychic, Luna's and Luno's Bullet Seeds, Heat's Eruption, Blaze's Fire Blast, Riv's Shadow Ball and Vivi's Inferno. The Sceptile roared loudly and jumped high into the sky, aiming directly for the immobile Kyurem in the middle of the now reformed dragon trio. "THIS IS THE END!" Hunter shouted and slashed Kyurem with both blades, immediately separating him from Reshiram and Zekrom, who regressed back to their stone forms and disappeared altogether.

Hunter landed on the ground, heavily panting from exhaustion.  
>"We did it" Missy said. "We defeated Kyurem!"<p>

"Yeah" Hunter smiled, knowing that they finally brought peace to their world.

However, Kyurem was by no means dead. He was reverted back to his crippled state, large scratches and bruises all over his body and heavily bleeding. He was lying on the ground, halfway unconscious.

"Give up, Kyurem" Lance ordered. "We beat you. There's no need for you to continue fighting"

"Indeed… you bested me" Kyurem groaned. "I never thought… someone like you… could ever hope to defeat me… guess I was wrong, then?"

"You were wrong on so many levels" Riv said with disgust. "It's not even funny!"

"We finally won" Luno sat down on the ground, exhaling sharply. "Now, we can finally rest a bit"

"Not until Kyurem's dead" Lance growled, ready to deliver the final blow to Kyurem's battered body.

"You are pathetic" a dark, sinister voice suddenly spoke and the sky darkened again. Everyone, including Kyurem, looked at the sky in shock. They saw the Shadow Crystal still hovering above the ice dragon. "Did you really think you could manage to control the dark power?!" the voice, clearly coming from the Crystal, asked. "This immense hatred which was stored inside here ever since I was created… as I told you before, you overestimate yourself… scum"

The Shadow Crystal suddenly started reforming into something different.

"What's happening?" Hunter asked in shock.

"What's going on?!" Missy joined in.

"The Shadow Crystal is transforming into something!" Vivi exclaimed.

"The one whose name shalt never be spoken" Riv suddenly said. "Oh no…"

"Riv, what is it?" Cold asked. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No, I don't" the Absol replied. "But I've seen that form before… at least I heard about it…"

The crystal transformed into something closely resembling a bird with large wings which ended in something resembling hands, as was its tail, strangely enough. Its underside emitted an ominous red glow and was adorned with dark grey and black markings, which ran up to its palms. Its back was black as were the upsides of its wings and the claws on the tips of its wings and tail. It had small bird-like legs which ended in strong talons and a ruff of feathers surrounded its neck and billowed out over its neck. Its snout was black an somewhat resembled a beak, and it had four horns on its head, two larger ones facing forward, while the two in the back were thinner and protruded backwards. Its eyes were a cold blue, displaying no emotion whatsoever.

As soon as the transformation was completed, the creature let out a strong, high-pitched roar, creating a shockwave, which managed to blow everyone but Kyurem away.

"Who… are you?" Kyurem asked the creature, which looked down upon him, occasionally flapping its wings, resembling the letter "Y" while it did.

"I am your superior" the creature said. "The one behind all of your actions. You were nothing but my pawn to regain my former strength and destroy this world!"

"Your pawn?!" Kyurem roared and turned around while lifting himself up. "I'll never accept that"

"As you wish" the ominous creature smirked and spread its wings, creating numerous black spears, which flew towards Kyurem, impaling the ice dragon through pretty much everywhere. Kyurem roared in pain as he fell back to the ground with more and more spears impaling his body until no more sound could be heard.

"Did that thing just kill Kyurem?" Missy asked in disbelief.

"Effortlessly" Lance added. "And yes, it did"

"We have to get away!" Cold shouted. "HURRY!"

"There's nowhere to run!" the dark creature roared and spread its wings once again, creating a huge, swirling storm cloud in the sky which got bigger and bigger, slowly surrounding the entire Pokémon World, engulfing it in a never ending darkness.

Ominous blood red bolts of lightning burned down one forest after another, strong wind blasts caused entire towns to fly away, killing any civilians that did not manage to escape. The many lightning bolts slowly but steadily transformed the Pokémon World into a living hell. Entire continents were engulfed in hellfire and it was as if the world itself let out a deafening death scream, before everything fell silent seemingly forever.

**Author's notes: BOOM! There you go! That's the end of this story!**

**Haha! Got you! No, this isn't the end. At least not yet. Not until it is revealed who this cruel villain is that succeeds with his plans, anyway. And we're all hoping for a happier ending, aren't we? Well, if we're really going to get one or not will be revealed next time! So, until then…**

**Peace out!**

- Shining4Charizard


End file.
